


The Tale of a Prince and a Witch

by Devilinureye



Category: Justice League vs. Teen Titans (2016), Teen Titans - All Media Types, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Brutalia, DamiRae Week 2020, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fairy Tale Elements, Forbidden Fruit, Forbidden Love, Inspired by Aladdin (Disney Movies), Inspired by Cinderella, Maybe - Freeform, Maybe it has lemon, Prince Al Ghul, Royalty, Witch - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:14:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 68,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24006439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Devilinureye/pseuds/Devilinureye
Summary: In a distant kingdom, in lands where desert sand and scorching sun meet the sea and colors, a promised prince returns from the war willing to follow the tradition of marrying a young royal princess to assume the throne and reign over his people...Without being able to choose which one to marry, the young man is promised from the birth to the daughter of an old ally.That all changes when he meets the mysterious Azarathian sorceress who lives in the dark corners of the forest.DamiRae Week 2020
Relationships: Raven/Damian Wayne
Comments: 63
Kudos: 211





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Story inspired by fairy tales and disney stuff... For DamiRae Week 2020.

_**The history of a reign** _

_Once upon a time in a distant realm of sand and sea..._

There was a family that ruled its people with justice, wisdom and strong fists. Hidden among rocks and kissing the sea, the small kingdom was ruled by a family of warriors, and has prospered since the Al Ghul family overthrew the tyrant prince. Called Nanda Parbat, the kingdom grew and strengthened for decades, with Queen Sora Al Ghul and the man who made himself a new title, Ra's Al Ghul as its protectors. Until the arrival of Princess Talia and her love story that crossed the walls and walls of the hidden and secret place.

When the then princess was about to marry the son of an ally, a white-haired warrior with only one eye, an outsider came to the kingdom asking for guidance and help. In a short time the stranger won not only the king's trust, but also won the heart of Princess Talia the moment his eyes met... And the stranger felt no different... The snake's eyes the woman and the sunset-colored skin made him think of home and his home was now, the woman's heart.

With the king's blessing, his love blossomed so much and so strongly that when the young stranger asked for the hand of the then princess, he was celebrated throughout the kingdom in a party that lasted for weeks, with dance, music and colors echoing in every corner of the world. kingdom and turning the princess into a sovereign queen on her wedding day.

The current queen, Talia Al Ghul, a strong, fair, passionate and powerful woman, exuded power wherever she went. Queen Talia was not only a queen, but also the best warrior and protector that that kingdom could have. The king had trained her from an early age, she was a tall woman with brown hair, golden skin as the sun and green eyes as the eyes of a snake and a soft voice. The queen was not a vile woman, but also, she wasn't merciful... Anyone who dared to deface or threaten her small kingdom would find her fury... It was the perfect opposite of the young stranger, who even always showing himself as silent and mysterious, he was always fair and believed in ulterior motives.

The perfect balance needed for the kingdom to prosper for ages and ages...

The small kingdom of Nanda Parbat prospered for golden years and everyone could see the love in the eyes of the queen and her people looked forward to the announcement of the heir that would lead them to more years of prosperity and abundance, even if behind the palace walls, the queen the strong and kind queen suffered in silence waiting for the fruit of that love to blossom in her womb.

After 1 year, the queen started to lose her faith... She dreamed of a boy with dark hair like the night, emerald eyes and pink cheeks and almond skin, but her dream became more and more distant...

As much as she and King Bruce tried, the gods did not bless them with a strong and healthy boy to rule the kingdom for the future. Her heart broke every time her hopes became hopeless and she saw her dream become more and more distant. The king, seeing the queen saddened by not having a child, could do nothing but calm her heart and order her messengers to go all over the kingdoms, in the surroundings or in distant lands to look for someone who could grant the miracle to his beloved Queen Talia.

Until the day the queen, walking through the palace, learned of the death of a beloved servant during childbirth. The child had survived and was strong as a bull and Talia found herself in love with the small white and pink cheeks and blue eyes like the most crystalline water. Her heart was filled with pity for the child who would grow up without her mother and she made an unexpected decision even for King Bruce, raising that child as if it had come out of her womb.

She sent for the baby's wet nurses and provided everything she needed to raise that child. The king, even though he loved the child the moment he saw him, warned of what people would say about that child not having their blood, but the queen cared little, rocking the boy in her arms while murmuring a lullaby.

\- "Let them speak, beloved... Let them speculate that this child is a bastard child... She is mine and will be mine forever..." - She smiled, placing the child in a crib near her, feeling the empty arms at once - "I will declare him as your son, a bastard of a maid... No one will judge you or me or him, the king can have a harem if he so wishes... He will have all the rights and love of our people, even if cannot rule our kingdom one day..."

\- "They will speak... They will not accept that a bastard child is king of his throne..."

\- "I am their queen, they are my subjects and if they do not obey my orders, then deal with my fury... This child is my son and forever will be..." - The king just nodded, giving your queen a kiss on the forehead. He would always support her and never leave her side, but he still waited for the day when a son, the fruit of their love, would come to fill their fairy tale.

The news spread throughout the kingdom and beyond. A queen who could not have children was not seen as a good queen by some subjects and a child who was not the son of the regents would not have the right to be king... Murmurs ran all around, but the queen could not care, no when she had little chubby hands touching her face or calling her a mother as the years went by...

And anyone who dared one day to say something bad about her son at heart, knew the thin blade of her sword.

The queen became the mother of 3 other bastard children, 3 boys who grew up in the palace corridors and learned the customs and traditions of that small kingdom. The queen was happy with her three children and the king saw them as being of his own blood. Peace reigned in that place, and the people never disputed the queen's choices to raise the king's bastard children, but they loved the little boys with all their heart and knew that when the time came, they would know how to keep the kingdom going. prosperous and happy.

 _Richard_ , the first, a boy with kind blue eyes and a giant heart. He was a tall boy for almost six years old. He was kind to everyone around him and grateful to his parents at heart for saving him when he had just arrived in this world.

 _Jason_ , the second, a boy with light green eyes with flashes of blue and dark hair like the night. He was kind, sweet and cheerful most of the time, a chatterbox for his 4 years old, commenting on everything he saw and heard all the time.

And little _Timothy_ , just two years old, who spent all his time hanging in the arms of the king or queen. He was as smart as the first two, for his young age, and had been left at the castle's service door on a stormy dawn.

They were happy, living in a castle that didn't seem so lonely anymore, with children's voices and sounds in every corner. The queen had children of her heart and felt complete, even though she dreamed of a beautiful baby with long eyes and plump cheeks every night...

_But even in happy kingdoms, storms come._

The prince despised by the previous king, Dusan Al Ghul, learned that Queen Talia had not given the kingdom's heir children and decided to claim the throne. If the queen failed to conceive within a month, she, the king and her children would be deposed from the throne. Dusan was second in line and Talia knew he was a cruel and sick man ...

Princess Talia wasn't the only daughter of Ra's Al Ghul... When she was born, she had two brothers, Nyssa and Dusan, heirs to the throne of Nanda Parbat by right. He had been born with a demonic curse that made him white as pure snow, from the first hair to the tip of the toe and eyes as red as blood. The king was unable to have the courage to kill the child, because it was his blood after all, so he only despised him until the day when the prince, overcome with hatred and madness, killed his sister Nyssa. His father taken with shame and sadness, sent him away from the hidden lands of Nanda Parbat. Nurturing a jealousy and hatred for the sister who was now the only heir, Prince Dusan grew up vowing revenge against Talia, his father and everyone in that kingdom.

And he felt that revenge coming like a delicious dish...

The kingdom went into immediate alert, everyone looked for someone who could make the queen have a child, everyone looked for a quick miracle. Dusan already had a daughter, a little girl no more than 2 months old called Mara, he would take the kingdom of Talia and start an era of darkness in place...

There were days of unsuccessful searching, despair building in the queen's heart every time her beloved king came to sleep with no answers. She cried hidden at night and prayed to any god who could hear her asking for a child to rule. She feared that her people would perish with Dusan in power and she knew that her kingdom would collapse with wars that the prince would fight against enemies and friends. She had grown up in this war realm between her father and the wicked prince, she couldn't bear to hear the cries of innocent children and women dying because of the sword anymore.

She knew that Dusan's revenge wouldn't be enough just to take the throne, Queen Talia knew that Dusan would kill her and all the people she loved... Her beloved king, her 3 heartfelt children and whoever dared to be opposite him .

When hope had left the queen's heart and all she had left was to hand over power to the man she loathed, a soldier came running into the palace with a hooded woman in his hands. The soldier said that the woman was an ancient and powerful sorceress and that she could help the queen and with that, the flame of hope grew again in Queen Talia's chest.

The sorceress was called Azur and came from lands where no man dared try to reach, a distant land called _Azarath_ , a kingdom so distant that neither the queen nor the king had heard of it. A peaceful kingdom, where the maximum law was _not kill_. The sorceress was an elderly woman, with gray hair, tired eyes and wrinkles on her face. She had a chakra on her forehead, between her eyebrows and her robes were a long dark blue dress with a cape and hood that reminded her of a death bird, a raven.

Her appearance was that of an evil witch, but her voice brought peace to the queen's heart

The queen didn't initially trust the woman who was said to be a powerful sorceress, but saw no other solution. She was the only witch they had found in 6 years willing to try to help and Dusan was already preparing to take the lands of _Nanda Parbat_ to make the place his kingdom of horror.

The ritual lasted almost a whole night, from the window and cracks in the huge oak doors of the palace, purple and blue lights could be seen dancing inside the place and when the queen woke up the witch had already disappeared like smoke in the forest that circulated the kingdom leaving for it only brings a potion of green color and sweet taste for the ritual to work.

The months passed after the ritual as magic, they tried to have the baby as instructed by the sorceress who was never seen again and when the queen and the king thought they had been deceived by the old woman, the queen received the news she had been waiting for those years since she had married her love of other lands, the witch's miracle had worked and within her, a life was growing, an heir who would save the kingdom from Prince Dusan's clutches, and his tyranny, grew strong in the queen's womb and then after 9 months and long hours of a difficult and painful child-birth, a boy's strong and loud cry echoed throughout the palace and kingdom.

A boy who was destined to be a just and strong king for his people.

The child was just like the queen's dream, black hair like the night, green eyes like an emerald and tanned skin like cinnamon and sunset. He was a perfect child for the queen, and strong from the first breath. He held his mother's hand with more strength than a baby could have and therefore, the queen knew that he would be a good king, the perfect result of the balance that was the reign of Queen Talia and King Bruce. A boy so strong, healthy and perfect that Queen Talia named Damian...

_The one who tames..._

He would tame the world at will and be just, strong and protective... She would guarantee that and his reign would prosper for ages and ages.

The entire kingdom celebrated the birth of little Prince Damian, with parties that took the entire kingdom for days and nights for more than 100 days. Joy was heard outside the walls surrounding the little kingdom, with lights, sounds and colors celebrating the queen's visible joy as she held a small package wrapped in a green and gold cloak in her arms.

They were saved, Prince Dusan was no longer a threat... But at the city gates, the joy of a new heir wasn't shared by a man with hair and skin as white as the first snowfall. The queen accused the dethroned prince of treason, but following the advice of her beloved and not wanting to turn the joy of the kingdom into something bloody, she sent Prince Dusan away and never returned to those lands, he was the only person in his blood to still alive, she didn't want to lose everyone who had her blood and leave an orphaned little girl.

But she wouldn't have the same pity the next time.

Then the the fallen prince left, taking his little princess with him away, but vowing one day to return to take what was rightfully his and kill the little prince who had just been born. The queen never held her son as tightly as she did that night, afraid that the snow prince would come and kill her baby in the silence of the night, but for nights and nights nothing happened.

The prince Damian grew up being loved by his kingdom, his brothers at heart and his mother and father, being strong and just when necessary and merciless and adamant with his enemies. For years, Nanda Parbat grew up in grace along with his prince. The people loved him from the first moment they saw him in his mother's arms and every year, his birthday was a big party that took over the kingdom.

For 16 years, everything was fine and they lived in peace...

_Then the war came_


	2. Chapter 1

Damian took a deep breath, letting the air into his lungs and filling his chest with a feeling of home, the night had already fallen and the starry sky stretched high on the stone walls that circled the city entrance. From there on top of the mountain, he could see the lights of the lamps being turned on in each house until it arrived at the grand palace built almost on the city limits.

Oh Gods, he loved to see that place... 

He had grown up there, inside those stone fortresses and heard stories of his background, had walked the market streets with the servants, saw princes parading there making deals and dealing with his mother in search of riches hidden within the mountains that the city guarded.

He missed that, missed that place and its colors and sounds...

It was to be expected that he would miss home after months on a battlefield... 4 months and a few days just plotting strategies, checking positions of the silent army they had in hand and winning the victory with each battle... Damian had experienced a birthday without days and days of celebration for the first time and he honestly didn't like that his 17th birthday gift was a new scar on his face.

Not that he really liked birthday parties and people coming to him, but he also didn't like spending the day of his birth amid mud, blood and the latent pain of a new wound ... Slade Wilson insisted on him give the new scar, but now with his army wiped out, Damian knew he wouldn't be back anytime soon...

People really did crazy things about power and love... Even facing an army like the League of Assassins

He let the air out of his nostrils slowly, watching the troop moving just below him as he heard the secret passages in the rocks of the great mountain slowly open with a roaring noise. He thought of the way to the palace, in his comfortable bed and in his hot bath... It was the only thing he expected and wanted that night, but he knew it would take a few hours to have it.

Partly because his kingdom would party all night around his warriors and partly because his family would probably have a banquet to celebrate the end of the war and the crowned prince's 17th birthday.

Anything was a formidable reason for his family to have a big celebratory banquet...

The war that had been going on for a long time had ended with a win-win for Al Ghul soldiers and that was the biggest secret that those stone walls kept. Always led by a prince and his 3 bastard brothers, the army of warriors was deadly dangerous. They were silent as snakes and god forgive anyone who met them on the way.

When the gates of the citadel opened for the train of princes and warriors tired of so much walking, Damian decided it was time to descend from the top of the city and just follow his commanders. He couldn't stay there all night looking at the sky and thinking about how he loved that place.

His people would probably celebrate that victory for days and days, however, he just wanted to eat something other than "war food" and sleep in a decent bed, not a tent having to listen to Jason's snoring... Mattered a lot with the conditions, during the training he had no relaxation for being the heir to the throne and he had slept in worse situations, but he just couldn't stand Jason's snoring for another night...

He would end up killing suffocated Jason if needed.

The whole city went out to celebrate the warriors and the end of the war, women ran to hug their husbands, children ran alongside the parade screaming while the music played from everywhere, it was one of those festive nights they would take to sleep, but Damian... He was the prince and he could have the right to sneak around while everyone was dizzy and get a good night's sleep.

\- "My children... You are back...! Let me look at you.... 4 months and no letter to your distressed mother?" - Talia grunted smiling looking at the 4 boys getting off their horses at the castle's door, she kissed each one on the cheek, earning a grunt from Damian because he already felt _"too old for that"_. - "Come on... I'll send you a bath and a party to celebrate your return... Oh my beloved..." - Talia smiled giving another kiss on Damian's cheek before reaching for his ear - "Never go to the war again and leave me without news... Okay?"

\- "Ouch... Yes, mother..."

\- "Good..." - Talia let go of Damian's ear, running her hand over the now red ear, stroking it before giving a smile - "Go bathe, soon the lords and their daughters arrived and you need to be presentable..." - She signaled for the palace servants to provide the four princes with a bath and for the party to begin while she stroked her huge, round belly.

Because of the discovery of a new and dangerous pregnancy, Talia had to stay inside the city walls waiting for news. After Damian turned 16, Talia managed to get pregnant again with her beloved king, Bruce, and they had two other little girls adopted with them.

One with golden hair and light eyes who was about the same age as Drake, with pink cheeks and a giant smile on her lips. Her name was Stephanie and unlike the other girl, she spoke more than Damian could follow (or care).

And the other, a little younger than Damian, with eyes wide as dark as the night that stretched over them, tall in stature, short black hair and no voice. Damian found himself curious about her, who didn't seem shy, but who didn't make a sound while they were being introduced... Her name was Cassandra Cain, a well-known name for Damian, to tell the truth...

Cain was a household name for the Al Ghul... And it sometimes smelled of trouble.

Damian took a deep breath looking at the two girls in front of him, adopted by the king and queen of Nanda Parbat, who would be treated like princesses of the kingdom but who would never really be the princesses... His new sisters...

His parents did this to any young child left to their own devices.

It was a weird habit that his parents had that initially, he tried to understand, but now he just tried not to care anymore... His parents would soon leave the leadership life of that kingdom and Damian would have obligations as his grandfather had before him, as your mother had now...

He needed to learn to focus on those obligations, not understand how his parents' madness to adopt a litter of children worked while others had come from their wombs. Soon he would have to focus on having his own heirs and he honestly didn't want to have to think about it now, he was only 17 and the law said he was up to 20, the maximum age, to get a wife...

He definitely didn't need to think about it coming back from a war.

People were celebrating the end of the war outside the palace and inside was no different. Damian could see a movement already happening with servants and musicians moving from side to side. He grunted, dismayed, he couldn't get away from that banquet that night.

At least, he was able to take a hot bath and for a considerable time, he soaked himself in the bathtub, with his eyes closed or just watching the new scars acquired. One more for the patchwork that formed on his skin. For a prince who lived in a castle, Damian went through several near-death situations. It was scary for him as a child to be the target of so many enemies because of the choices of his ancestors. On his chest, Damian carried the largest of them, in the shape of a T, a mark around his entire trunk and went down almost to his navel....

The result of an unsuccessful fight against a former suitor of his mother who had returned to take revenge on the queen's contempt. Damian took the worst, that scar almost led him to death, but for some reason he stayed alive... He never told anyone and never thought much about it, but he had heard a voice saying that it wasn't time for him to die.

\- "Master...?" - Two of his servants were standing near the foot of the bath, holding some towels and a green robe with golden details in their hands, taking Damian out of his thoughts. He took a deep breath and shook his head, pushing that old memory out of his head. There was no need to remember a voice he heard at a time when he was struggling not to bleed like a pig when he was just 10 years old... He didn't even know if what happened after he was injured was real or what his brain projecting the feeling of comfort...

His mother had told him about the mysterious wizard who had came from a place called Azarath and helped her to be able to have children and thus provide heirs to the kingdom, but he had never really seen a wizard or wizard around, let alone any city called Azarath... He knew the conditions of his birth and the stories told, but he didn't really know if he believed... Damian was too skeptical to believe any story for children to sleep. If he tried a little, he would surely find some scientific explanation for what had happened to his mother and about the mystery of the queen's pregnancy that could not have children.

Damian got up from the bathtub, dried himself on the towels and wrapped himself in his robe, smelling the smell of home filling his lungs and giving him a feeling of peace and comfort. He was at home and intended to stay for a long time. He dismissed the servants as he headed for the bedroom to change, there was already a separate linen on top of the big double bed that he was tempted to throw. Damian just ignored that urge to just sleep after riding for hours to get home and quickly dressed in the robes specially prepared for that type of occasion.

Each of them had clothes of specific colors that meant their places there and Damian's, it was the green and gold that symbolized that he was the heir of the colors and symbols of the family and consequently, the royal heir to the throne and the title created by his grandfather. one day. His royal robes consisted of a large green cloak with golden details and arabesques from the hood to the feet, with a sleeve covering the entire length of his arms and armor that was almost like a long-sleeved shirt, but with enough protection so that what happened when he was 10 doesn't happen again. The armor was black, with gold details from the shoulders to his abdomen and khaki pants that always accompanied a green fabric tied around the waist.

His brothers' robes had almost the same pattern, but in red, black and blue, he couldn't even imagine what colors would be chosen by the new members of the big Al Ghul / Wayne family and to be honest, he couldn't stand matter, this whole color thing and its meanings seemed too much nonsense for him. Like, maybe he liked other colors besides green... And maybe he didn't want to be walking around with all that weight just to say that he was the heir.

People already knew that ...

People approached him because of that... 

The girls approached him exactly because of that... 

People tried to _kill_ him almost always because of that...

Damian licked his lips and took a deep breath, adjusting his robes as he walked to the door, thinking about the comfortable bed he was leaving behind. The bath had relaxed him a little, but he still needed to sleep in a soft, comfortable bed to feel like he was 100% recharged.

Damian's thoughts about sleeping were changed almost instantly after he smelled the feast food. All of his favorite things being served at the tables while loud music played for some people who had come to dance in the palace hall. Damian didn't remember how much he missed home food until he smelled it all over his being and made his stomach growl.

Thanks to the gods for loud music and lively conversations, it would be embarrassing to have a prince with a stomach snoring in the middle of the room... At the very least he would get a nice tug of ears from Alfred, the _half-grandfather-half-nanny-half- butler-half-friend_ of his, at most he would be the example of how not to be among the affairs of the lords.

After the banquet was served and people were happy and their stomachs were full, the party continued into the night, with music filling the room as veils and scarves in bright, warm colors swayed with the sound of stones from the women's waists as glasses of wine and palms rhythmed along with the mandolin and tambourines from the lively court musicians. Damian snorted bored and tried his best not to roll his eyes while a group of girls wearing smiled and waved at him in a corner of the room.

\- "Don't do that, little brother..." - Jason grunted, leaning back against the pillows next to Damian. The rest of the family seemed attentive to the dancing guests, but Jason Todd Wayne seemed too interested in the face of boredom his younger brother made - "So you will break their hearts..."

\- "Shut up, Todd..."

\- "You only tell me to shut up when you know I'm right..." - Jason gave an amused smile

\- "Or maybe when you're talking too much..."

\- "But you know I'm right..." - He raised an eyebrow - "All these girls dressed up in new veils and stones just to see the warrior heir arrive on his white horse... Your contempt will make them have the heart broken..."

\- "Feel free to heal them..." - Damian grunted - "I'm not interested in having to court a woman... Not now..." - He took a deep breath - "The only thing I'm thinking about is sleeping in my bed..."

\- "It doesn't hurt to look at them a little, anyway... It also doesn't hurt to wave or just smile and be an enchanted prince that they think you are" - Jason grunted smiling - "Besides, you'll need to choose a bride sooner or later... You should take the time you have left watching some of them..."

\- "I don't want to think about it... I said..." - Damian grunted -" And I have my reasons for not wanting to think about choosing a wife now..."

\- "Don't tell me that beneath that unbearable shell there is a beating heart..." - Damian rolled his eyes, preferring not to answer. He had a reputation and he knew that if he admitted that to Jason, that reputation would be ruined.

The truth is, Damian didn't really want to have to marry someone for advantages. His mother was lucky enough to fall in love with someone and get married and have a marriage that lasted for all those 23 years and deep down, he wanted that too...

Find a person who wasn't only convenient for the kingdom or to fulfill a stupid law, but find someone who liked him as he was, who was a friend before a lover, who was on his side in good and bad times and not just a wedding armed to improve an army or for a lord to be helped... And honestly, nothing in that room caught his eye... Just the same boring girls he grew up seeing, daughters of lords and commanders and generals. 

All of them who saw him as an opportunity to be something more, not as someone to love... The same people who saw him only as a crown, not as he wanted the woman who would spend his life by his side to see him.

\- "Quiet, consent... Already said Alfred..." - Jason grunted smiling satisfied

\- "That's not it..." - Damian took a deep breath - "I have time to think about it, we just got back from the war... I don't want to have to think about a stupid law that forces me to have a wife before the age of 20..."

\- "Because you have just returned from the war it is exactly a good reason to want to be with someone..."

\- "Can we please change the subject? You're also a prince, why don't you go find someone..."

\- "You know I have... Preferences..."

\- "Spare me the details of your encounters with the commander of the archers..." - Damian rolled his eyes making Jason let out a loud laugh as he dropped his head on the pillows behind him

\- "Oh my little brother... You don't know what you're missing..." - Jason said trying to control his laughter while propping himself up on his elbow again - "I still can't believe you're waiting for the right girl... You are the heir... Any girl will be the right one..."

\- "Could you please shut up?" - Damian grunted so low that he was sure the sound of the song had drowned out his voice - "I said I don't want to talk about it now and I don't want to think about it now... I have time to choose a bride and I intend to choose one that be not only the height of the position of queen but also a good companion..."

\- "Of course..." - Jason raised his eyebrow - "And that's commendable... But you're at a real banquet... Nothing prevents you from having a dance..."

\- "My tiredness prevents me..."

\- "Boring..." - Jason hummed, getting up in a sudden movement - "And it's bullshit... But... You're a pain in the ass and that doesn't surprise me... And unlike your royal highness, I like it to have fun and celebrate while I'm still alive... If we continue to ally ourselves with armies and go to war we will die early, so..." - He said with an amused smile, slowly moving away from the royal tent, while pulling two girls to the choreographed dance where Tim and Dick already met.

Damian knew that Jason was right, he should have more fun while he could have fun, while he was still just a prince in which the only obligation was to learn and fight and perhaps find a wife. He was just too tired to be able to have fun anyway... And the way the girls threw themselves at him was... _Doubtful_...

He didn't like that.

The banquet and music continued into the night and when the moon shone almost in the center of the sky and the lords were already tripping over their legs because of the wine that the hall began to empty and people went to their homes. Damian thanked some braver girls who dared to court the prince even with the queen's possessive gaze on them. Like a lioness, the queen didn't take her eyes off her baby boy all night, which was one thing, since she was the one who always made a point of reminding Damian that he needed to find a wife or would make a breach for enemies of the throne would threaten to take everything they had built during those years.

\- "You should see the kitchen..." - Talia said smiling looking at the last group of girls who whispered about how the prince looked more charming after 4 months in the war - "It is full of gifts..."

\- " _Tch_ " - Damian clicked his tongue, rolling his eyes as he fell with his head on the pillow, his arm over his eyes - "They didn't cook that... I bet"

\- "And how can you say that?" - Talia grunted smiling, looking at her boy there, with a new scar just under the eyebrow.

\- "They are daughters of lords, mother... I doubt that they really know the way to their home kitchen without the help of a servant" - He grunted laughing - "You were the only warrior princess in this city..."

\- "Your grandfather wanted someone to honor his legacy of not only an excellent king, but also, a great martial arts master... And that is why we teach all of you everything that your father and I learned..."

\- "Where did you find the two girls?" - Damian grunted barely noticing when the phrase left his lips. He rarely questioned his parents' actions, but he couldn't control his curiosity this time.

\- "A mother needs daughters..." - Talia muttered looking at Stephanie dancing with Tim and Dick while laughing, Cass remained sitting, talking to a dark-haired girl that Damian vaguely remembered training with him. She wasn't from there, but they were allies of the Al Ghul since the time when Damian's ancestors were nomadic warriors leaving West Asia - "Cassandra is the daughter of one of our best warriors... David Cain, one of your father's and your brothers' masters and an ally of your grandfather, they wanted to offer us a bodyguard for the baby that will be born... Silly, that baby, being a boy or girl, was born like you, knowing to be the best warrior in these lands ..."

\- "And the blonde? She is not from here..."

\- "We don't know much about the poor thing, only she was adrift in the desert sands, almost dehydrated... Your father became fond of her very quickly, it seems that she comes from the same place where he came from so I let her stay... She is a good girl and... This castle needs a little more of a female voice... All men with their stupid men's affairs were about to drive me crazy

\- "Mother... Do you think my father misses the lands where he lived?"

\- "Hmmm..." - Talia licked her lower lip thinking - He comes from a past of great pain and suffering, my child ... He lost everything that mattered to him and came in search of knowledge and freedom, hoping one day to return to home... But... He found home here... He found family..." 

\- "Hmm..." - Damian took a deep breath and nodded slowly, pondering the things his mother had said. That was exactly what he wanted to have when looking for a wife, the kind of trust and adoration he could see in his parents' eyes when they talked about each other.

Damian knew that his father had left everything behind when he decided to stay there, in that city hidden behind rocks and water and forests. He knew that his father had abandoned a fortune, a house, customs and a life when he decided to stay in Nanda Parbat and marry his love and Damian could see in his father's pool blue eyes that he didn't regret any of that decision , 20-something years later.

And that was what he was looking for for his reign... Someone who made it complete, who didn't make him regret any decision he made. He didn't know who she was, but he wanted to believe that she was there and that, before he was forced to marry someone he didn't want, he would find her

Damian took a deep breath and shook his head trying to get those thoughts out of his head. Spending too much time with Dick during those 4 months of war was affecting his head...

Now he was starting to think like Dick... _And that wasn't a compliment_

\- "So... The girls... They aren't like my brothers? Aren't they bastards? So, aren't they princesses?"

\- "The rest of the kingdom don't need know..." - Talia smiled giving Damian a wink - "Besides, soon they will have another child to flatter and think about parties... It won't be long before a new heir will be among us..."

\- "Well, from your behavior today seeing these girls come to talk to me, I believe you're talking about the baby in your womb..."

\- "I'm talking about grandchildren, Damian... Grandchildren..." - She laughed - "I'm a mother... My role is really that... Besides, you will always be my little treasure... They will never be enough..."

\- "And they aren't..."

\- "Didn't you like any girl?" - She raised her eyebrow - "The Ducard's daughter is a good girl and she was here today... You were inseparable when you were children"

\- "Maya?" - Damian scratched his neck trying to remember Maya Ducard in that room - "I didn't see her here and... No... Definitely not..." - He took a deep breath - "Maya is a childhood friend"

\- "The longest marriages come from friendships from the past, Damian..." - She smiled - "Friends know you better than anyone..."

\- "I'm not going to marry a person I have as a childhood friend... It's almost family..." - Damian frowned - "And I intend to think about a suitor, but not now... I know my duties as future king and I know that enemies can take advantage of this to take us over the city, but I intend to have a wife that I trust and love..."

\- "Well..." - Talia licked her lower lip thinking away, seeming to weigh Damian's words - "We'll talk about it later..." - She nodded - "You are my treasure and I want you to be happy, my child..."

\- "Fine..." - Damian grunted stretching his arms as he felt the bones crack. He needed to sleep and now, everything was calm and drunk enough for the few more than 3 families to notice that royalty had already retired to their quarters - "This thing about you trying to get me a suitor is stupid... I'm not a baby, I'm a man... I can search for a girl alone"

\- "Of course you are a baby to me... You will always be my little treasure, beloved..." - She smiled, looking at Damian as if he were just a screaming little child, her little prince - "I missed you, my child..." - She ran her hand through his hair, pulling back. It had grown a lot since the last time she had seen him, leaving the castle and leaving an anguished mother's heart behind. She wanted to have gone along and fought on the side of the child she labored and pained in her womb 17 years earlier, but the baby who was now on the way and kicking hard in her belly prevented her from going into combat.

The king stayed with part of the troops to protect the city and the queen, while the princes and the rest of the soldiers went out to fight the one-eyed wolf, Slade Wilson, a former Talia Al Ghul suitor.

But as much as the scars continued to grow on the boy's face and now, his face was already changing to that of a man with a defined jaw, long black hair and small marks of combat already healing very close to his eyebrow and cheeks, for her, Damian was still the baby she first held when he came out of her womb.

She still remembered the long hours of childbirth and how she thought about giving up, but how her heart was filled with a new feeling when she heard the loud cry take over the entire palace. He was a strong boy from the first moment she saw him, and one of the greatest loves of all her life.

Damian was the best thing she had done in her entire life, he would always be her baby, just like his brothers. She loved having all her children and she loved even more having Damian there... He was exactly the child she had dreamed from the first moment.

Damian smiled awkwardly, the way he did when he didn't know how to express his feelings (God bless, Talia knew the boy was like his father, but he was just like Bruce and his feelings lock) and whispered an "Me too" before to sit down and give Talia a quick kiss on the forehead and return to paying attention to all the things around him falling asleep with the end of the banquet except in Talia with her loving smile for him... It was strange when Talia smiled like that, she was a good and caring mother, but she was a warrior trained to kill...

That was what she did without hesitation at any time...

Again Damian thought of Talia as a lioness, she was an exceptional mother even for children who weren't of her blood, but merciless if necessary to defend her brood. Damian felt a chill on the back of his neck as he remembered the time Talia had beheaded a man who tried to kill Jason with a crowbar.

Damian and Talia continued talking for a while in the tent about the war and how the white wolf ambush was ineffective when they arrived at Noshaq, the highest point in the mountain range that protected Nanda Parbat from the world outside those gates and as the advantage of being the best warriors in the region helped them climb the mountain as the home yard until Talia felt that she had already crossed her limit and decided to lie down, leaving a laughing Jason because of the wine tormenting his younger brother while the servants cleaned up the mess of the banquet.

Damian was dragged by Jason to the palace kitchen after the water-eyed boy learned that Damian had received gifts from unmarried girls in the kingdom and the boy grunted when he saw an unbelievable amount of delicacies of all sizes, shapes, appearances and tastes huddled together. at the tables with greetings to the royal family. Jason, Tim and Dick ran, pulling Stephanie, Damian and Cassandra to see all the contents left there, but after looking one by one, only Jason stayed eating the sweet and savory delicacies over and over asking Damian if he was sure he didn't want to eat nothing.

After a while watching Jason comment and judge the taste of each food there, Damian found himself lost in thought, looking at the starry night that stretched across the horizon of the small town, until he lost sight of the stone fortress that surrounded his house. He didn't know for sure if he was going crazy or if his sleep was already making him see things where he didn't have to, but he could have sworn he saw the sound of a bird that he didn't hear much around ... Damian swore he heard the sound of a raven passing by somewhere near the kitchen, but as much as he looked, he saw nothing.

The sound of a raven could be a good and a bad omen... And Damian couldn't tell if he could be optimistic enough to think of the good reason for it.

Jason continued to talk about the dancers and the gifts that Damian had received and Damian didn't listen well and in fact, Damian didn't care enough to hear. After his eyes roamed out the window and the starry night and the sound of the bird captured his attention, something else made him catch his breath and wonder if he wasn't really going crazy.

Damian didn't give a damn if the Lord's hazelnut muffins, whoever he was, had a strange moldy taste.

The only thing that caught Damian's attention was the figure he could have sworn to have seen delicately land in the huge garden that stretched behind the palace. Damian watched the figure almost float on a cover as dark as night and disappear behind the bird houses... Was it a thief? A being from another world? A giant bird? Or your imagination speaking louder?

He couldn't say...

Damian left Jason talking to himself, with his mouth full of some sweets he found among the many delights the girls had taken to "try to trap the prince in the stomach" and ran to where the figure had disappeared.

Holding on the handle of a dagger, his senses went on alert when he saw the hooded figure crouched near the birdhouse, whispering something while holding a small robin in its hands.

It was a dark velvet cape almost completely covering the body of the being who was there with the bird in pale hands, the only thing he could see from where he was wearing a bird-shaped hood that covered the whole person's face, not leaving plenty of options for Damian to guess what he or she could be. From that being's hands, a purple light enveloped the animal while the being murmured in a language that Damian had never heard anyone speak...

Damian knew he should believe what his eyes were seeing, but a magician doing some kind of purple magic in front of him still seemed too much... He couldn't find any scientific logic for it... Nor could he imagine it was a good thing...

A sorcerer would appear invited by the king or queen and not hiding in the birdhouse.

A shiver ran down Damian's spine as he remembered the sound of the crow he had heard seconds before he saw the hooded image land gracefully in the garden. This was definitely not a good omen... And maybe, it would be better to finish him while he could.

He swallowed and slowly pulled the dagger from its sheath as quietly as he could, struggling to be a quick surprise attack, but when he cautiously approached the hood the person raised its head, seeming to feel what Damian was about to do...

Seeming to feel that Damian was there.

\- "If you're going to kill me, wait for me to put this poor fellow in the birdhouse and turn around so that I can at least defend myself, majesty... It's not decent to attack an enemy from behind"

Oh...

_Oh..._

It was a female voice... A sweet, soft and peaceful female voice. Damian opened his mouth and closed it again, trying to find the words in shock. He didn't know what to expect, but it definitely wasn't.

The voice burned in his chest in a way that nothing had ever burned before and Damian felt his marks all over his body burn as if he had been branded. The owner of the voice didn't move, but Damian for some reason could have sworn she gritted her teeth.

\- "W-what are you doing here? Who are you?" - He stammered when he found his own voice. The woman took a deep breath and stood up slowly, placing the little bird in the cage again and slowly turning to where Damian was still standing holding a dagger uselessly, the shock had still taken him by surprise and his hand held the dagger as if it were more a support...

He doubted if he could handle it properly if he needed to attack...

Still, facing Damian, he couldn't see her face, covered by the huge bird-shaped hood, Damian could see only the black-painted lips and the feminine shape that the woman hid under the dark blue velvet cloak. A long second of complete silence stretched between the two.

Damian had to remind himself that he needed to breathe.

\- "You didn't hear? I am ordering you to tell me what you are doing here and who are you..." - Damian managed to say, trying to keep his voice steady enough for that being to understand. She smiled, her black-painted lips showing snow-white teeth and opened her mouth to answer, but closed again when more steps approached behind him.

\- "I found the prince! Majesties! Commander!" - One of the servants was running towards them, followed by Bruce - "We found the prince...!"

Bruce quickly appeared behind the waving man, running with Dick, Tim, Harper, Alfred and some soldiers in Damian's direction. The hooded woman looked at Damian and took a step back, but stopped again when Bruce pulled Damian into a hug so tight that Damian had to ask Bruce to let him breathe.

\- "Oh... thanks to the gods..." - Alfred murmured hugging Damian shortly after

\- "Father? What happened?" - Damian raised his eyebrow, trying to understand the rush of the men behind him

\- "It's Jason... He's dying... We think he was poisoned..."


	3. Chapter 2

_"It's Jason... He's dying... We think he was poisoned..."_

Damian repeated his father's phrase in his head over and over while trying to reason, poisoned? Had Jason been poisoned? Who had poisoned Jason? Had anyone tried to kill him? Wasn't the war over?

He staggered back two or three steps, feeling the ghost of his dagger in his hand trying to think straight about what was going on before his head took a complete turn and his eyes fell on the hooded woman behind him. The sound of a raven was never a good omen, he knew it the moment a shiver ran down his spine. The woman had arrived there just as Jason was eating in the kitchen... 

_This was her fault._

Damian closed his hand tightly around the dagger again and quickly turned against the woman, pinning her against the birdhouse with a strong hand against her chest while the other pressed the dagger tightly against her neck. 

While Damian tried to focus his anger in one place, which was difficult with the bombardment that came from the sensations and smells that came from her. She smelled of fine herbs, lavender and chamomile. and her hair was black, long and dark as the sky above them while her skin looked too milky and pale to be from someone in that region. He pushed the urgency of wanting to pull her hood deep into his chest as he remembered where he was and what he was doing.

She was an enemy, she poisoned Jason and she was probably there to kill him.

\- "You..." - He grunted between his teeth - "You did it..."

\- "Damian!"

\- "I don't know what the hell you're talking about, little prince..." - She spat the last words with disdain - "But let me go or you will suffer the consequences..."

\- "If you think I'm afraid of y-..." - He didn't finish the sentence, a snap of purple magic left her hands and Damian felt his body fly away from her as if it were nothing more than a sheet of paper. She adjusted the cloak and hood, her hands still emanating that purple magic that pushed Damian away.

What the hell was she? And how in the name of hell did she manage to push him so far?

\- "I'm sorry, _your royal majesty_ \- Always the same tone of contempt -, but... I told you to let me go..." - She growled, her hands full of purple energy while Damian grunted his pain in 3 different languages - "Never again touch a witch without her allowing it..."

Damian muttered something, still gritting his teeth as he stood up again, dismissing the help of his brothers while disguising a wounded ego... No one had knocked him down so easily before and sure enough, no one had spoken to him that way before. Damian got up from the floor, wiping the drop of sweat from his forehead, while he gasped, swallowing the pain in his stomach caused by the push. He could fight her again, she wasn't ready for an attack and knowing magic well, her source would run out quickly.

\- "Damian... No..." - Bruce's voice sounded close to him, but still between him and the bird girl - "It's not time to fight, your brother needs us now..." - Damian swallowed and reluctantly, nodded by lowering his hand

\- "Take her..." - Damian growled - "Hold her until I know what to do with her..."

\- "Yes, Your Highness..."

\- "Don't fight..." - Damian grunted without looking at her - "Despite the great pleasure it would give me to see you die now, we are a fair people... You will have a trial for trying to be a royal, but my soldiers are guided to use violence when necessary..."

Damian turned his back to the hooded woman, feeling a metallic taste in his mouth as he started walking back to the palace, listening to her grunt like a wild animal as the soldiers tied their hands. Damian spat the blood out of his mouth, cursing the witch in every language he could remember, he had bitten his tongue when he fell to the ground, hurled by the woman as if it were nothing. What was she? Witches were usually just witches... They didn't have a strength like that...

They didn't have purplish energetic forces like that... Right?

Damian followed his family toward the place where Jason was supposed to be, his room at the end of the hall. Jason was lying in bed, unconscious, sweating cold and shivering. He was pale and his body gave slight spasms at one time or another. Damian had seen cases of poisoning for various reasons, insect bites, various poisons, but nothing seemed to drain someone's life like that.

Damian remembered Jason commenting on the taste of the cookies being weird, looking musty. He would have to know how that woman delivered those cookies in the kitchen and how she just appeared there afterwards, it was certainly some poison that involved witchcraft.

Talia was sitting next to Jason, holding a damp towel over the boy's forehead as she tried to hold her watery eyes. When she looked at the door and saw Damian standing there, she quickly ran to hug him, thanking him in every language she could remember that he was alive and well.

\- "Oh gods you are well... You're safe and alive..." - Talia grunted, almost breaking into tears as she looked at Damian as if she hadn't seen him in years and years.

\- "What happened? I was with Jason just before and he was eating and being annoying as always..."

\- "A maid found Jason passed out in the kitchen, he had white eyes and was having a violent seizure..." - Bruce grunted behind Damian - "We think something had happened to you, we thought you had been poisoned or kidnapped... And then we met you with that girl in the garden..."

\- "Girl?" - Talia looked up - "What girl?"

\- "We don't know who she is, _habibti_ " - Bruce said calmly

\- "Not even what she is..." - Damian added 

\- "We only know that she kicked Damian's ass and threw him across the lawn like a crumpled piece of parchment" - Tim grunted with a smile on his lips earning a deadly look from Damian and a slap from Dick on the back of the neck.

\- "She took me by surprise... So shut up, Timothy..."

\- "You know this is the oldest excuse ever... Right? She kicked your ass like it was nothing, you had no chance against her..."

\- "Don't test me Timothy... I'll throw you from that same distance if you test me with one more sentence..."

\- "Boys," - Bruce's firm, dark voice interrupted the boys - "This is no time for this..."

\- "Are you telling me that you arrested who did this?" - Talia said, her face getting hard and dark as she looked at the four men - "Did you arrest whoever poisoned my son?"

\- "Yes, mother..." - Damian replied firmly

\- "No, mother..." - Dick and Tim answered together

\- "Maybe, beloved..." - Bruce grunted looking at the 3 boys - "A witch was in the garden with Damian, he believes it was her but, she said she doesn't know what he was talking about..."

\- "But I'm sure it was her... This is magic and you saw what she did to me, father..."

\- "Kicked your ass"

\- "Do you have any proof of this, Damian?" - Bruce looked at him with a raised eyebrow - "I don't trust her or what she says, but to accuse someone, we need proof, my son... This is what we do to reign with wisdom and justice. She could be at the banquet and you saw her at the wrong time..."

\- "She wasn't... I saw her arriving in the garden, landing like a bird in the garden... She is an animagus..."

\- "That doesn't prove it was her..." - Bruce grunted putting a hand on Damian's shoulder who grunted furiously

\- "I know it was her... What other reason would a witch who turns into a bird be here?" - Damian muttered between his teeth - "She turns into a Raven! You know what that bird means... Death! This is a death animal!"

\- "For a skeptical man, you've been believing a lot lately, Damian..."

\- "I still skeptical, but I'm not an idiot..." - Damian grunted - "I know this is black magic... No poison that I have seen makes this kind of reaction... It seems that he is dying from the inside out"

\- "Well, that still doesn't prove much, Damian... We will not and cannot condemn anyone because of suspicion" - Damian just snorted and rolled his eyes

\- "Anyway, this poison was for me..." - Damian grunted - "Jason was eating some muffins that were brought to the palace, he said it tasted like mold..." - Damian took a deep breath - "Whoever sent it, intended to kill me... which wouldn't be the first time..."

\- "But the war is over... Who would try to do that?" - Tim said scratching his chin - "The white wolf wouldn't have time to manufacture this poison and put it here in that time..."

\- "You didn't see how it got there, Drake..." - Damian said irritably.

_Was it so difficult for them to see the coincidences?_

Damian snorted and ran to the kitchen again, looking for any remnants of the muffins. He wasn't sure why he was looking for it, he just wanted to feel useful about it all instead of looking at Jason getting worse by the second and listening to everyone say that the only witch who had appeared there was not to blame for what had happened ... That was magic and if he only could prove that it came from her in any way... He would taste the victory on his lips, he would prove that he was always right and that the way he felt about her was his sixth sense for dangerous things

He still had his ego hurt because he was so easily defeated by her

Two healers from the kingdom arrived with their medications soon after, coming to the conclusion that Damian already knew what the poison was made of... It was black and ancient, blood magic and none of them could reverse it. So old and unknown that even the healers' books and herbs couldn't solve it... Only a powerful sorcerer could fight black magic with pure magic.

When the healers left the palace saying _"I'm sorry"_ , Bruce felt desolate and floorless. He didn't want to give up and he didn't want to lose a child... As much as Jason was an adopted child that he found when he tried to steal one of the queen's bracelets when he was only four, Bruce considered him as blood from his blood... So son as Damian was.

He knew he was losing him to a poison that hurt him in ways he couldn't even imagine...

But Bruce tried to remain calm, his face intact from his emotions, Talia was with an advanced and dangerous pregnancy and was suffering as much as he was, she didn't need Bruce without any emotional control around her. She needed unconditional support... Talia continued to rub the damp towel over Jason's forehead, humming a song while her voice was too choked to keep the emotions on the edge while stroking his hair. Her eyes went up to Bruce, like two greenish oceans he had only seen when her father died in a bed shortly after they were married.

He needed to do something and for a moment, a lamp went on in his mind... There was a witch in the palace dungeons. A witch strong enough to launch Damian from meters away with just a snap in her hands... Damian said it was her fault, but Bruce needed to try.

_For Jason he needed to try..._

Bruce ran off to where the prisoner should be, part of him said that he needed to keep reason in front of the emotion and that he could be giving to anyone who tried to kill his children exactly what they wanted and another part shouted at him that being a witch she probably couldn't even be there anymore, but before he could reason, his feet were taking him directly to the cells in the palace's dungeons, where the smell was nothing like the rest of the city and it was bad lit by few torches on the walls. His heart was pounding in his chest by the time he saw her sitting in a lotus position, her small body levitating a few inches from the floor as she chanted an almost inaudible mantra that he had never heard anyone speak of before.

Bruce ordered the guards to open her cell and leave the place to look for any sign of whoever had tried to poison the Crown Prince, even though he knew it was useless to look for any clues now ... The palace was practically clean from the banquet and Damian was like a hunting dog after something ...

But he needed privacy to talk to the woman in front of him... She didn't seem very talkative with several people around.

\- "You let yourself be arrested and stayed here..."

\- "Hm... If you came with the intention of trying to get some confession out of me, you're wasting your time... I didn't do it with a dagger against my neck, I won't do it with you ... I won't confess for something I didn't do"

\- "I thought you would run away..." - Bruce grunted when the last soldier disappeared on the stairs - "A wizard would run away..."

\- "Hm... Okay... If you came to accuse me of something and hoped I was getting ready to run away, so you can formally accuse me, you wasted your time too..." - She grunted without opening her eyes - "Your son, the green-eyed one has already done this... And I have no idea what you are accusing me of..."

\- "Someone tried to kill my son, future prince..."

\- "Well, that someone is quite useless in his work... The little prince tried to cut my throat when we were in the garden"

\- "Apparently the plan did not work but, it poisoned his older brother... But we are convinced that it was for Prince Damian, the future king..."

\- "With that angry and unpalatable personality it's not very difficult to imagine why..."

\- "He's convinced it was you..." - Bruce crossed his arms - "And with your answers, I'm starting to convince myself too..."

\- "Even if it didn't work..." - The woman took a deep breath and left the position, her feet resting delicately on the floor while the strange purple-violet eyes shining like a star under the hood - "I have nothing to do with this poisoning... I heal, I don't kill... It's against my rules..."

\- "So what were you doing here?" - Bruce raised an eyebrow - "Because it's at least... _suspect_... Someone unknown appears in the palace gardens attacking the prince on the day that there is magic poisoning in the palace..."

\- "First... I didn't attack the little prince..." - She pointed her index finger at Bruce, as if she had no fear of what the king might do to her - "He had a knife against my neck... He attacked me intending to kill me... Second... I was called here... For the birds that you keep in the cage..."

\- "I'm sorry... What?" - Bruce frowned, not understanding.

\- I was at the market, watching his people's party for the prince's return and his 17th birthday when I felt it, when I heard them call my name... They were restless and nervous... Birds are intelligent magical beings, they can predict misfortunes..." - She took a deep breath - "So there was this little robin and he was uneasy sensing something bad so I just followed their call and ended up here... I was calming them down, trying to understand what they wanted from me and then, your son, your majesty the stupid- _i-hate-everyone_ -prince tried to cut my throat with a little knife, before locking me in this dungeon..."

\- "So you talk to birds...?"

\- "I feel them..." - She grunted - "I feel all living beings... I feel your anguish for wanting to save your son and your wife's pain, I can feel the little spark of life in her womb, growing strong... I am what we call an empath..." - She took a deep breath - "I am a witch... We have connections with the vital energy, however much you may not think..."

\- "I see..." - Bruce nodded, slowly, considering what the woman had said. At no time did she take the hood off her head, but he could have sworn she wasn't much older than Damian. From the tone of voice and the small space that her hood left behind, she didn't look over 16 or 17 years old, her clothes were dark blue with purple, her cape looked like raven feathers and she had gloves that covered everything the extension of her arms.

_Exactly like the sorceress who appeared 17 years ago and helped him with the queen's pregnancy..._

Bruce was thinking about what she had said about the birds, he wasn't sure if he could believe anyone saying that he said that the birds in the palace nursery had called her to that place... Birds were always agitated, it's not like it was the first time, but before he could reach a conclusion, his thoughts were interrupted by quick steps down the dungeon stairs.

\- "Majesty..." - A soldier said a little flustered - "It's Prince Todd..." - Bruce swallowed, pushing the knot that rose in his throat - "He had another seizure..." - Bruce took a deep breath and turned to face the sorceress, barely managing to contain his own emotions at bay...

\- "Is he... Is he...?"

\- "He didn't die..." - She grunted before he said anything, eyes distant - "He is losing the battle, but his heart still beats weakly in his chest..."

\- "You can feel?"

\- "The poison is strong... Old..." - She muttered almost inaudibly - "But he is fighting..."

\- "You can help?

\- "Until moments ago I was the cause and now you ask me for help?" - The woman said, an incredulous tone took her voice.

\- "Yes..." - Bruce said anguished - "Can you help us?"

\- "I thought you wanted to condemn me..."

\- "Look... The healers said that only magic from a strong wizard could combat what is killing my son... Can you help, girl? It is not your king who is asking... It is a father... A father who is losing a son and doesn't know what else to do..." - Bruce swallowed his pride, swallowed his own position and concepts and knelt in front of the witch - "Please save my son and I will give you whatever you want..."

The girl took a deep breath and crossed her arms, nodding.

\- "Okay, majesty... I can and will help ... But... This is a long and tiring ritual and I cannot be interrupted by your son's injured ego..." - She adjusted the cloak, removing the gloves from her hands while Bruce looked at her without knowing how to say thanks - "So... Where is he? We don't have time for thanks and... I want to go home today for a nap"

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

They ran up stairs and more stairs to the room where Jason was bedridden and the scene Bruce found almost made him collapse. In bed, Tim and Dick held Jason's arms and legs so that he would stop struggling while Jason's head was in Stephanie's lap, who, with difficulty, tried to keep Jason from curling his tongue and choking himself. Damian was running around trying to get Talia out of place, it was not a good place for a pregnant woman. Everything was a mess and he knew that whatever the battle for life Jason was fighting, it was over... There was blood pouring out of his nostrils.

Damian pulled Talia to the door and then looked at Bruce, his eyes darkening as he landed on the figure behind his father. The hooded woman was there, with no ropes in her hands, free as a bird in the air, looking at him from behind the hood's darkness as if Damian were an interesting puzzle to discover.

\- "What is she doing here?" - He shouted pointing at the woman - "She should be in a cell!"

\- "She will help..." - Bruce said calmly, giving her space to enter towards the bed

\- "What?" - Damian practically shouted, not believing what he had just heard - "She is the cause... She did it..."

\- "No... She didn't..." - Bruce took a deep breath

\- "I will not allow..."

\- "You don't have to allow anything... I'm still the king here..."

\- "I don't like helping you, _little prince_..." - She grunted with disdain in her voice again before walking past him ignoring his disgusted grimace. - "I am here at the king's request, not yours... And I need to save this man from being stuck in this plane forever... Has your mother ever told you that you are not the center of the universe?" - She didn't have time for fights between parents and children, she needed to save that boy, he was in pain and no one deserved to die that way... She knew he would be stuck with that plan if he died like that. 

Souls who leave when it is not their time to go are wandering on this terrestrial plane looking for answers... Everything in nature has time to happen and she knew it wasn't the time for that man to die.

Damian opened his mouth to protest against his father's will, but closed it again and snorted, giving up fighting Bruce's will. He was still the king and he was Damian's father, he still gave the orders and his mother's look at him said that he should just follow the elder's order in silence...

And part of Damian, the most irrational and sentimental he insisted on hiding, said that he should give her a chance to save his brother....

It wasn't as if a sorcerer stumbled every day in his kingdom... The last time that happened, he wasn't yet born.The destination was, at the very least, weird for him.A sorceress showing up again just when his brother was about to die was at least weird.

Bruce motioned for her to approach the bed where the other children tried their best to prevent Jason from suffocating with his own tongue or being hurt by the spasms of his body. She took a few uncertain steps toward the bed, recalling in her mind all the spells she was supposed to do to save that soul and mentalizing the potions she was supposed to make later, but before she arrived, Damian held her arm, squeezing it tightly trying to ignore the sensations and the heat below his stomach, caused by the low growl that came out from between her teeth and his senses being flooded by the scents of essences that came from her.

_Chamomile, herbs and lavender._

He took a deep breath trying to get that feeling of being burned by her violet eyes from his chest before grinding his teeth, earning a low squeak from her lips and a grimace of disgust.

\- "If you kill him, I will kill you right here... I don't give a shit about my father's orders if you do something..." - he grunted between his teeth, before letting go of her arm and giving some steps backwards following what she was going to do while holding the dagger in her hands again to demonstrate that she was serious about her promise to kill her if something happened to his brother.

\- "I need space..." - She mumbled to Tim, Dick and Stephanie - "And I need wet towels... It will be a long ritual... This magic..." - She wrinkled her nose as if she smelled something that no one else could feel - "It is old... From the time when the genie of the lamps walked among us... It is a magic of 2 thousand years and is spreading fast... Whoever did this paid a blood price to have access to such a thing..."

\- "Okay..." - Dick mumbled releasing Jason's wrists that had spasmed and struggling again - "You heard... Make room for the witch... Let's get towels..." - Everyone moved away from her, leaving let her approach Jason with caution. Her pale hands came out from behind the heavy cloak and landed on Jason's forehead as she murmured in an unknown language. Damian watched closely as Jason stopped moving and shivering and stood as if sleeping soundly after a nightmare. Damian took a step towards her holding the dagger in his hand, ready to kill her.

\- "He's not dead, you can keep your knife, your royalty..." - She grunted with her back to him - "I just calmed him down a little... It's not easy to concentrate with someone struggling in a bed..."

\- "Don't tease me, witch..."

\- "It would be great if your anger was far from here..."

\- "And do you believe that I would leave you here alone to get away if something in this damn ritual went wrong? You are completely stupid if you believed this..."

\- "I don't plan to escape, your majesty... If I wanted to escape at some point, you wouldn't be seeing me now..." - She murmured almost humming, while kneeling to keep up with Jason - "If I wanted to escape, you would never find me again, sir... Not even if you put all the army in the world looking for me..."

\- "You can deceive others, witch... But not me... I don't know what your intentions are but I won't fall for them..."

\- "And I am extremely sad for this..." - She grunted wryly - "But at the moment, this man is dying and I need to concentrate to be able to save him, so... If your majesty can please shut up, I will stay immensely grateful..."

\- "Bend your tongue, witch..." - Damian snarled between his teeth, taking a step towards her, before Bruce stopped him, hands on his stomach preventing him from taking another step. 

\- "Well... If you've stopped trying to show yourself as the alpha male of the situation..." - She grunted with a raised eyebrow - "I need to start... Under no circumstances interrupt me, okay? Things can get... Weird, when I start..."

\- "What?"

\- "Mother of Azarath, give me strengh..." - She grunted rolling her eyes at Damian - "Don't make me cast a spell of silence on you, Prince Damian... I need to concentrate... Your voice is annoying ...

\- You stupid witch! Doesn't anyone tell the prince to shut up? Not even threatens me

\- Damian!

\- "I'm sorry, your highness... it was never my intention to hurt you or your fragile feelings..." - She grunted wryly - "Well... I really need to start or it will be too late... Do you understand?" - Damian just clicked his tongue irritatingly rolling his eyes as he leaned against the doorframe - Great! Thank you for your understanding, prince Damian..." - She took a deep breath murmuring a mantra that Bruce understood a small passage that looked like a prayer

She took a deep breath, completely ignoring Damian's protest and stretched her hands over Jason's chest and was silent, her fingers engulfed in purple energy and then, she opened her eyes again. Red marks like a raw tattoo appeared on her hands and went up all over the pale arm to the display with ancient runes that Damian had never seen before in any magic book he had ever read. She opened her mouth and her sweet, soft voice was no longer her voice, it was distorted and cold and Damian felt a shiver go up all over his body and freeze his spine.

It was as if she became something else, a threatening thing that made all the hairs on his body stand on end and his survival instinct scream for him to leave, but his feet didn't move... It was as if he felt hypnotized for her and that was weird.

She opened her eyes again, eyes that had once been a beautiful shade of violent behind the hood now radiated a red glow like living blood shining like two rubies behind the hood's darkness. The purple energy that came out of her hands grew and increased, covering Jason's body like tentacles as she murmured a mantra like a prayer. On her forehead, a rune shone brightly like the glow of fire on a dark night.

Damian stood by the bedroom door all night, refusing to even go out to rest or go to the bathroom. He didn't trust leaving a witch alone with Todd after what had happened and, honestly, neither does Bruce.

But Damian had other things on his mind besides worrying that she was irritating to him. His mind was thinking about her, or the little he had seen about her. She was shorter than him, her cape imitated the feathers of a bird and a long dress with purple and navy blue fabrics that were not common there... There women wear gold and bright colors in silk... She used dark colors and heavy fabrics. Too heavy for her small shape, but not heavy enough to hide the sharp curves she had...

And oh... Beautiful curves that made him bite his lip hard enough to cut when he remembered, his eyes lost on the horizon of her kneeling beside the bed.

Damian wiped his mouth with the back of his hands, ignoring the blood that was starting to flow as he tried to stop thinking about the woman kneeling beside his brother's bed. But the more he tried, the more he remembered. The dark color of the lips, the violet tone of her eyes, the runes growing from her arms, the grunt she gave and oh... 

_Her voice_

Her voice was as sweet as bee honey but as hot as a fire. So hot and melodious that it made him feel things he never felt before. Not commenting on that feeling he knew what it could be when she growled low when he tightened his grip on her wrist. 

_Wait, what?_

Damian licked his lower lip and leaned his forehead against the wooden doorframe, Jason would surely make a stupid joke if he was seeing him at that moment.

And that was ridiculous

Damian shook his head in denial at his own thoughts, watching as she remained in the same position. He couldn't say how much time had passed since she was still there repeating the same mantra over and over again as those tentacles enveloped Jason's body, and everything moved to spin around the invisible force field that formed around her. Gradually, around her was a mess of parchments, feathers, small dust particles and everything small enough to be attracted to the magnet she seemed to have become.

The sunlight was beginning to dawn behind the mountain of stones that circled the city and the sky was just beginning to be painted orange and light blue announcing a new day when she grunted, she grunted, seeming to be in pain and her magic retreated into her hands and the things that spun around her fell lifelessly to the floor.

She looked exhausted, her body collapsed sitting on the floor while she leaned on the palm of her hand so she wouldn't pass out. Jason breathed calmly on the bed, as if he were sleeping soundly. He had no more spasms in him and his lips were not as dark and black as before. She had healed him and Damian wasn't sure how to feel about it... She had kept her word and healed Jason... 

_What did she want to gain from it?_

She sat on the floor for a few long seconds before getting up again and walking over to Bruce, pulling the hood down for the first time in all that time. Damian had to remind himself how to breathe when her eyes met his, brighter than they had been when he found her in the garden.

Her skin was paler than the moon that shone in the high sky during that night, dark hair like a raven's feathers and violet eyes that looked like two amethysts instead of irises. She had a pendant on her forehead, a ruby-red crystal between her eyebrows and her cheeks were a light shade of pink.

He didn't know what he expected, but he definitely wasn't expecting a woman like her...

She was able to appear angelic and demonic at the same time, that was very disturbing to Damian's opinion... Not that he really believed in demons and angels...

\- "Majesty..." - She mumbled, her voice as low and sweet as Damian remembered when he approached her in the garden

\- "Are you alright?" - Bruce asked with a frown on his forehead

\- "Yes, I am... I just... I need a little rest, it took a little more of my magic... This ritual demanded more from me than I expected... He... He's fine..." - She replied to a silent question from Bruce - "I took his pain for myself and purified him... He is no longer in danger of dying..."

\- "He's fine... Oh dear gods... Thank you, miss...?"

\- "Raven..." - She bowed to Bruce still a little staggeringly - "You can call me Raven, Majesty..."


	4. Chapter 3

\- "Raven? Like the bird?" - Damian asked with his arms crossed - "Do you have the name of the bird of death and want us to believe that you are here just to help?"

\- "Exactly... Like the bird of death..." - She grunted rolling her eyes to Damian - "It's just a name, prince... Its means dominator... By some chance I must judge that your royal highness subdues more species weak because of your name?"

\- "Don't make that stupid comparison, you know what I'm saying ..."

\- "I know?" - She raised her eyebrows

\- "You are a witch..."

\- "Yes... A witch... And this is nothing new, I didn't hide it from anyone and even then, it doesn't make sense with what you say..." - She grumbled - "You insist on repeating it like if it was something super important..."

\- "Well... I don't know if you noticed but there was an assassination attempt by magic here... It is an important point that a witch with the name of the symbol of death appears here..."

\- "How many times will I have to explain that I didn't do it?" - She snorted boredly - "Besides, you're basing yourself on an idiotic meaning... That doesn't mean anything that I'm the angel of death, majesty... It's just a name I got when I was born, nothing much... Just like your name or anyone here... It's just a damn name, little prince..."

\- "Don't tease me, witch..." - He growled low, his tone sounding somber, something in that woman made his patience stretch to the limit - "I already said that at the first opportunity I won't hesitate to stick my dagger in your chest..."

\- "You have been very attentive to my _chest_ , by the way..." - She raised her eyebrows, making Damian's cheeks warm and red and a feeling of shame filling his entire being.... Maybe his eyes lingered a little on the milky skin showing on the neckline of the bluish bodice but, it's not like he _wanted_ it... He was looking at her in a whole - "It is not polite to look at a cleavage of a woman like that, Your Majesty... Someone may get it wrong and think that you want-" - Damian grunted between his teeth, almost screaming that he wasn't interested in her boobs and that he had actually observed not only that part but, all the small form she had but that didn't help much, if he spoke out loud, it would probably get worse...

\- "Stupid witch..."

\- "Damian..." - Bruce scolded him with his back to him - "Forgive my son's actions, Miss Raven... He has no intention of offending..."

\- "Oh I totally intend to offend a witch who tries to kill someone in our family, makes malicious insinuations and attacks me, father..."

\- "Is your ego still hurt by that garden?" - Raven grunted pouting - "I thought you got over it while looking at it here, Your Majesty..." - Her head tilted to the side while her fingers signal the small cleavage that was hidden under the heavy cloak, looking at Damian with those violet eyes and an amused smile taking her lips in a way that made Damian's heart feel strange, as if it were floating in his chest.

_He used all his willpower not to look down her neck again_

\- "You took me by surprise, it won't happen again..."

\- "Tsc..." - She clicked her tongue - "You can try again if you want... I can make it easier for you next time..."

\- "There won't be a next time..." - Bruce grunted interrupting the growing tension between the two young people - "Miss Raven, we are grateful for your help and for saving my son... Nanda Parbat's kingdom is in debt to you... If there is anything we can do to thank..."

\- "Debt?" - Damian grunted - "We aren't sure if it was because of her that all this happened... She may well have poisoned Jason so she could heal him and have us in her palm..."

\- "She saved him, Damian... Even with your insistence on wanting to attack her from the first moment for unfounded assumptions... And that's just what matters at the moment..."

\- "My mother will kill her... You know that..."

\- "Your mother will be grateful that she saved your brother..."

\- "TT'"

\- "Please, Miss Raven..." - Bruce turned to Raven - "Accept my apologies regarding how my son treated you and our immense gratitude for still saving the prince... We are indebted to you..."

\- "You aren't indebted to me..." - She grunted, pulling the hood to her head again rolling her eyes to see Damian snorting behind Bruce - "What I could do with what I have here I did and it will leave you alive and stable for now..." - She looked at Jason and then at Bruce - "This is not just a poison... This kind of magic is much darker and older than I expected and and I have to make sure that there is no trace of that in your son anymore... I can make a potion that will help with the rest of the treatmen... As a medicine..."

\- "Do what you need..."

\- "I need my herbs, sir..." - She said so quietly that Bruce thought he didn't hear right - "I need my things, my objects... If you let me go, I can make this potion in my house and bring for him before the end of the day..." - Bruce looked at Jason sleeping in bed, he looked like a child sleeping after a long time playing, but he knew that if she was saying it wasn't over, it was because she was right ...

\- "You're free to go..."

\- "WHAT?" - Damian practically screamed - "Father! She is a prisoner! My prisoner!"

\- "She saved Jason, I will not allow her to be a prisoner just because you thought she was a criminal... You have no evidence, Damian..."

\- "What if she runs away?"

\- "I live in the same hut for 5 months, Prince Damian..." - She mumbled - "While you were at war, I was helping with some of my knowledge the people who came to me with pain, fears and agonies... There are no reasons why I would run away right now..."

\- "Well, you tried to kill a prince... That is a plausible reason to run away for me..."

\- "I didn't do it..." - She rolled her eyes - If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't use a slow poison... I would have done it with my own hands and in the garden when we were alone and you were curious about who I was..." - Damian opened his mouth and closed it again - "And he certainly wouldn't be around to get caught... Are you stupid?"

\- "Bend your tongue..."

\- "No... I will not bend my tongue just because you are a _damn little prince_ trying to prove your worth before being king..." - She pointed her index finger at him - "Since you found me, you accuse me without any proof, _majesty_... I am a pacifist, I come from a place that taught me that wars are not the way and taught me to respect the other, but I am not a frog to endure your offenses in silence ... I don't have cockroach blood, _prince_..."

\- "Damian..."

\- "TT..." - Damian rolled his eyes - "Nobody is pacifist... And nobody does anything for free..."

\- "Well... You don't know the whole world..." - She took a deep breath - "And you definitely doesn't know where I come from..."

\- "You two..." - Bruce grunted squeezing the bridge of his nose - "Please, can you stop arguing for a minimum instant??" - He took a deep breath, looking at Damian and Raven - "Raven, you can go to your house to get the potion you need to bring Jason 100% cured for us..."

\- "But, father..." - Damian protested only to be silent again when Bruce raised a hand

\- "However..." - He said with a raised eyebrow - "This sets a precedent that I had not considered... My son has a caveat and it is valid, since we don't know the type of medicine you will give to the prince... I will let you go to your house but it doesn't mean that we will blindly trust you to just go away after finishing this potion... We cannot allow you to just go away and leave my son in that state of deep sleep or worse... So, I will assign my best soldier to accompany you to your home and bring you back to the palace... Until we resolve this, you will continue as our prisoner..."

\- "I can go..." - Damian grunted with a raised eyebrow - "I'll keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't make the poison worse for all of us or run away... I'll have the pleasure of killing her if she does something..."

\- "Just say that you are obsessed, prince... And maybe I don't prepare a potion that really kills you..."

\- "You stupid witch..." - Damian made a move to walk over to her, being blocked by Bruce

\- "No, you won't go with her, Damian..." - Bruce grunted - "I won't risk letting you enter the forest alone after this poisoning attempt. It is a risky time for all of us, they attacked us inside our own palace with something that would go unnoticed even for a fly... I will not risk your life or that of anyone in our family again... You will stay and rest because you haven't slept since he came from the war... Harper can take her and bring her back safely... And if she dares to run away, he is the best archer of the guard, you know he'll shoot her like a bird in the sky..."

\- "This is very encouraging..." - Raven grunted ironically - "Thanks for the confidence... Or the lack of it" - She grimaced - "But, look... I already said that this is not my thing... I'm a sorceress, created by a sorceress in a land of sorcerers... This is magic of genie, not my magic... My magic flows from my origins, magic from genie flows from bonds that hold them in their lamps..."

\- "That's a lie..." - Damian grunted rolling his eyes

\- "Damian... This isn't the discussion now" - Bruce muttered squeezing the bridge of his nose - "Go tell Commander Harper." - Damian snorted angrily and looked at his father for a few seconds before just rolling his eyes and stamping his foot against the marble floor hard. He was something about that woman that made him nervous and with his senses connected to the maximum.

She made him feel things he never felt before and it was all because of her weird _lilac/purple/violet_ eyes.

Something about her disturbed him too much and made him feel... _Strange_.

He didn't like feelings that he couldn't explain... The only place where he tolerated the element of surprise was on the battlefield and not when there was a woman with strange violet eyes and ebony hair walking freely in his palace with her curves accentuated, its milky skin and its scent of herbs and lavender...

_Stop thinking about it_

Damian shook his head irritably as he handed the messenger a message to be taken quickly to Roy Harper's house, which was clearly within the palace walls, where all soldiers and their families could walk and live freely, since the training was intense and diaries.

And Damian knew it helped to keep Roy Harper and Damian's brother Jason close...

Roy grew up with Jason and Dick, Damian's older foster brothers and was always seen in the palace since Damian understood himself as a person. The older they got, the closer Jason, Dick and Roy were.

Roy and Jason closer in recent months thanks to their _relationship_.

Roy and Jason had a relationship of terms that were unknown even to Damian, but the boy didn't mind trying to understand either... He didn't care what Jason did or didn't do. Damian usually had more to do than snoop on his brothers' love life...

_An extensive list of love lives_ , by the way...

Damian usually had a lot of duties to do most of his time and when he didn't, he looked for something to do... He didn't have time to woo girls or meet someone so he could get involved and he honestly didn't want to... No with all the tension of war and not now when he was forced to choose a fiancee. He even came to believe that if it weren't for that law, he might not even have a relationship with anyone...

He wondered if he deserved someone, if he could feel anything good for someone... His life was programmed from the first breath and as much as he felt his parents' love, he knew that if it weren't for the threat of having the throne taken, maybe he hadn't even been conceived... It was stupid to think about it, his family loved him and he could feel it every time Talia hugged him and called him a little treasure and squeezed his cheeks (even though he was 17 and was taller than her)...

But he thought about not deserving many things anyway, it was thoughts that prowled his head at nightfall almost always and he couldn't help it. Damian shook his head, trying to erase those sensations that these thoughts caused him, he didn't relate to anyone because he was so full of duties that honestly, he felt at times that there was no more space for someone else there... End of conversation. 

And his family occupied a large space in his life... Almost 10 brothers and an entire kingdom to govern... There was really a lot to think about.

Damian grunted to himself, he was thinking too much again and he didn't like it. He didn't like looking too dreamy, that was Richard's role, not his. His role was to learn duty and be the best at what he was supposed to do... His grandfather would want the best of the best by inheriting what he built for so many years, his mother wanted the best of the best to carry on the legacy.

Damian took a deep breath and knocked on the door where Roy Harper was supposed to rest his bow and arrow when he wasn't in the queen's service or training his archers. Roy was the best of the best, it was no coincidence that he came to the command of the archery regiment of the Al Ghul army as quickly as anyone else. He was almost the same age as Damian's brother Richard, but his career as an archer for the league was enviable... Coming from a family of fighters, archers and raised by a tribe of natives who dealt with magic, he managed to make his name like _"Arsenal"_ as fast as the straight arrows he was shooting. He opened the door not long after, finding a Damian almost bored at the door.

\- "Your Highness...?"

\- "No time for formalities, Harper..." - Damian muttered uncrossing his arms - "I need your services... I need you to escort and watch a witch for me..."

____________________________________________________________________________

Raven grunted angrily to herself as the prince with irritating emerald green eyes tied her wrists tightly with a very thick rope. That's what she got for trying to help others... Being treated like a prisoner.

She should have listened to her master, Azur said that she would be seen as a stranger by humans, that those who were like her had been chased and burned at the stake in almost everyone and that she should wait for the right moment ...But she had to be stubborn and demand to know her mother's world ...And worse, she had to have a goddamn butter heart and help others... 

_Follow the birds_... That was stupid. 

If she hadn't gone to that annoying humming of those birds, she would have been in the comfort of her hidden hut and not accused of doing magic that she didn't dare to do. That was something she didn't dare try to do. It was very old blood magic, as old as the story of the little kingdom of magic where it came from. That was magic of lamps and shackles and the price you paid to have that was not cheap. It was Genie's magic and she had no access to it... She was just a half-demon, the blood of a fallen archangel, a witch and a demon ran through her veins... Even if she wanted to poison that whole city, it wasn't that one kind of magic she would use. But no matter what she said or how much she made it clear that she didn't do that kind of black magic, the small, attractive and angry prince wouldn't believe her in a single second. 

_And she didn't know why she felt so strange that he didn't believe her._

She didn't know why she felt weird with him.Maybe it was his eyes that seemed to see the inside of her soul green, or maybe it was his distinct aura. She didn't know what it was for sure, but something about it made her feel naked and it bothered her in a way that she couldn't control... After all, his personality was extremely irritating... She was surprised that people spoke with such devotion to the little miracle that it saved them all from the tyranny of a snow prince...

He was annoying, his eyes were annoying, his tone of voice was annoying, everything about him, in a few minutes, became extremely annoying to Raven, always looking at her with arrogance, as if she were an enemy he should watch and fight. Raven felt this arrogance nudging her most proud side and heavens, she wished she could tear it off. She could tear it all up if she just tried

_Oh Azur, his beauty was irritating..._

Raven took a deep breath and swallowed her own thoughts to the back of her mind, she didn't want to fill her head with stupid thoughts, she was going to make that damn potion and never set foot in that palace again. Not after being arrested, tied up and treated like a criminal even though saving the life of a man who was about to die.

Humans were ungrateful and she must remember that...

\- "You know what to do if she tries to run away..." - the prince muttered to the soldier with fire hair and freckles on his cheeks - "She is a prisoner, she must return to the palace as soon as she finishes the potion she said she needs to make... If she tries to escape, shoot without thinking twice..." - The prince grunted holding Raven by the waist while sitting her on a horse. She could break free from those strings with a murmur of words, but she knew she wouldn't come out alive if she tried...

And she was trying to avoid thinking too much about the boy's strong hands on her waist... Raven bit the inside of her cheek trying to ignore whatever was going on inside her.

The soldier nodded, looking less than happy, but Raven couldn't tell whether it was because of having to fulfill the wishes of royalty so soon or if it was because of what had happened to the prince that Raven had helped to save... She felt the feelings coming towards her from all sides, it was quite irritating at times... But in the middle of it all there was that pure feeling of loving someone... And she knew it came from the boy with the sunset hair and freckles on his face. The nuances of love were different colors for her, she had learned that in potion classes that Azur insisted that she learn.

He held on to the rope as he climbed on the horse himself, pulling the animal that was carrying Raven tied and trotting slowly towards the forest following the coordinates that Raven had told him. The green of the forest contrasted with the stone wall that stood at the other entrance to the city and that now didn't look as dark as it was when it was at night. It was good to smell the trees and the sound of birds again and that was why Raven had chosen the little hut in the middle of a clearing surrounded by that nature... Furthermore, she had her privacy intact due to the myths and stories that circulated the small potion of trees that formed that forest... There were few who ventured there ...

Nothing compared there compared to the hum and sounds of the city... And Raven knew she needed that peace... But she definitely didn't want to go home like that: tied up on a horse.

It was not comfortable and she felt that she would fall from there in the slightest sudden movement. Her cloak seemed to hang her and the dress seemed to want to slide it off the animal's back. She needed to let go of her hands in order to balance herself better or she would be dragged into the forest ...She just didn't know if that soldier would mind having to drag her around.

\- "Don't even think about running away..." - He grunted without looking at Raven when she moved again with the utmost care not to fall. She snorted irritably and wrapped her fingers around the horse's caramel mane trying to feel a little safety in her fingers to no avail - "I never missed a target, _princess_... You wouldn't be the first..."

\- "How many times will I have to say that I am not planning to escape...?" - Raven growled angry - "If I really wanted to get away, I would have done it a long time..." - She grimaced - "And please, I'm a witch, it's not like you can hit me with his arrows if I do not allow you to hit me..."

\- "I spent my childhood with a healer who was here before you arrived in these woods, girl..." - He grunted laughing - "I know how to deal with people like you..."

\- "But I'm not trying to escape..." - She took a deep breath - "It's uncomfortable and I'm not well balanced on this animal... I'm trying my best not to fall, but my tied hands don't give me many options from where to go hold on... - Raven growled - You could untie my hands..."

\- "Me? Release you? "- He laughed, head toppling backward - "You think I'm innocent like this? I release you and as soon as I turn my back, at the first opportunity you disappear? My head would be delivered on a silver tray arriving at the palace soon after... You will not convince me..."

\- "I will not run away... I promise" - She repeated - "Really, if I wanted to run away do you think I would let that stupid prince tie me up? I could let go but, I don't want to give you reasons to keep believing that I'm guilty..." - She breathed in exasperation, trying not to fall when the horse made another sudden movement - "I want to continue living here when all this shit passes and be free again..." - The man stopped the horse and looked ahead and Raven didn't know what to expect. Her horse also stopped and so she was able to get a little better. He took a deep breath and turned his head to her, seeing how she was still trying not to fall to the other side of the horse. 

She had to remind herself to look for lighter clothes than what she normally wore from the West... That dress of hers was too heavy and too tight to wear there

\- "Are we away from your house?"

\- "Not much..." - She mumbled - "Just after we pass the clearing that is after those olive trees there..." - She pointed as she could with her hands tied - "Look... You know you will have to untie me if you want that I save your... Prince" - The soldier was silent, not remembering saying this to that girl before - "I know you have something... I can feel it from here..."

\- "Shut up... That's none of your business..."

\- "I'm... I'm sorry, it wasn't my intention to intrude into your life..." - She took a deep breath, her hands holding a little tightly on the horse's mane, praying to the gods that it was enough for her to stay balanced at least until they reach the clearing - "Look... Let me off the horse and walk the rest of the way..."

\- "No need to try to convince me to release you... You are a prisoner until further notice..."

\- "You know you're going to have to untie me at some point... You have no choice and you know it... I won't be able to make this potion if my hands are stuck... Why can't you untie me now, then?" - She took a deep breath - "I won't run away, I swear by my magic... I'm just trying not to hurt myself by falling off a horse..." - The soldier took a deep breath looking defeated and then got off his horse and walked over to Raven, extending his hands to her.

\- "Give me your wrist..." - Raven shrugged her hands close to her chest, a little suspicious of what might happen, part of her mind told her to be on the lookout for any attack or punishment, but the other just wondered what he could do - "Don't you want me to untie? Give me your wrist..."

\- "Are you going to untie me?"

\- "I will..." - He grunted indifferently - "You swore by your magic that you won't run away and you're right, you won't be able to do what you have to do to save Jason if your hands are tied... Give me your hands and I'll give you that vote of confidence..." - Raven looked at him looking for some flaw in his speech. Being who she was, Raven learned to distrust everything and everyone in her life, being an empath, Raven knew that most of the time, people lied to have their own benefits, but there, she could only feel sincerity and concern. Raven calmly lowered his hands towards her thigh and took a deep breath, while Roy's fingers untied the knot on Raven's wrist with a little more difficulty - "But I'm warning you, witch... If I try to run away, I'll knock you down with an arrow like a bird in hunting season. The little prince gave me approval for that..."

\- "You have my word..." - Raven smiled, turning her wrists to relieve the tension caused by the strings, she could see the small reddish line that formed on her wrist healing before she even became purple - "I am Raven... You can stop calling me _'witch'_ as if it were an insult..." - She smiled warmly, trying to show him that she wasn't a threat as everyone thought. He took a deep breath and nodded, walking back towards his horse. - Where do I come from, when someone introduces himself, the other one says his name... It's called introducing himself..."

\- "Maybe I do not want to know your name... Even if you know mine..." - He grunted climbing on the horse while returning to hold the rope of the horse where Raven was. She frowned, disappointed that her attempt to make things better would be dismissed that way and just held on better to the horse, having her hands free to hold on to the saddle, 

\- "Roy Harper..." - He grunted after a while silence - "My name is Roy Harper ..."

\- "Nice to meet you, Roy Harper..." - She smiled, seeing it as a form of white flag between them.

The rest of the way was silent again and Raven tried to decipher the man on the horse that accompanied her, but she felt that there was too much of him that she wasn't allowed to know... Especially when she was still seen as a criminal by all of them there. She could see the conflict within him just as there was the conflict in the king to trust her, and she knew that it was all fair, since she would also be suspicious of them if it were the opposite situation.

But she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time...

Perhaps, that little bird wanted her to be there exactly to save the bastard prince from a hasty death, maybe she had heard calls to save a man like that soldier from losing someone else he loved...

She could feel a lot coming from him, Raven was like a sponge to the feelings of others. A few, like Prince Damian and the king, were like fortresses. They were insurmountable and their feelings almost imperceptible, and when in little moments they let something slip away, she felt like they were pandora boxes, releasing everything inside and struggling for their defense mechanisms to stop the leak. She felt something wild when Damian looked at her in that one, and it was the only thing she managed to feel except the rage he had been building since the time he held her against his dagger.

Other people were like open books, all their feelings, fears, frustrations and worries flowed free like a crystalline river and Raven was flooded and overwhelmed by these people, some even gave you an almost unbearable headache... Like when you drink lots of wine and you have to face a clear day with a hangover...

Roy Harper, that soldier, was just that kind of person.

It flooded her with an emotional overload that ALMOST made her feel a blinding migraine... She could feel anger, fear, worry and deep down a feeling so pure it could be _love_... Raven knew how to differentiate the nuances of love when she had this type of contact. 

There was love for his family, Raven usually saw it when people were close to their loved ones, most of which was visible between brothers and sisters.

There was love for a loved and loved person, it was the love of a couple, it was overwhelming and hot and strong... The more people loved each other, the stronger and with a reddish hue Raven could see and feel.

And there was pure love, coming from parents to children. This was a kind of love that Raven was always intrigued to know and deepen... Being who she was, Raven hadn't a lot of experience with this kind of pure love, she had only known her mother before being locked up forever in the palace of the grand master Azur. And she was able to absorb this from Roy from meters away if she focused a little more... There, she was almost feeling suffocated...

She could see the colors around him, but that kind of love that only parents have for their children was the most evident color in him... Raven had seen only one other person have such an intense color of love for their children, in the Queen Talia herself.

Roy Harper had someone who received all this love, but Raven didn't know if he could ask about that person...

Raven got off her horse and walked into her old hut, waving Roy to wait there and that she wouldn't be long. She took off that heavy cloak, sighing as she smelled the old familiar scent of her herbs hanging to dry. It wasn't a big house, just enough space to do her studies, rituals and potions, eat and sleep.

It was safe, surrounded by rocks and trees, and she rarely had visitors except for a stray animal or someone looking for a cure or medicine. Her double bed was arranged next to the wood stove, on certain nights, the cold there was almost freezing so, the wood from the stove helped her stay warm... There were some pillows on the floor next to a rug that she knew that smelled like lavender that she used to purify and closed by a flowery drapery, was the bathroom where she used to wash and clean herself and she was sure the oil in the lamps should be almost gone because she had been burning alone the night before. Raven ran her fingertips over the small bookcase with books piled up looking for the right book for what she was supposed to do. She knew what she had to do with her eyes closed, but she didn't want to give chance a chance...

A wrong root and she would be put to the gallows right away.

Raven had built it all by herself with the help of her powers and it was where she felt calm and safe, she didn't trade that for anything in the world.

Raven ran to the water jar and washed her hands quickly, mentally remembering the ingredients she needed for the portion and how it should be administered to the prince, taking some roots of ginseng and rosemary, muttering to herself that she should return to the market soon to buy more roots and herbs... She had left all back when he heard the call and now her stock was almost low...

Lucky for the little _passed out prince_ that she still had something there.

Raven kneaded, rubbed, burned her fingertips, boiled, used all of her knowledge while trying to punctuate the things she had learned at home in that portion, always murmuring the right spells she remembered decorating and struggling with her seal appear.That seal was cursed, the mark of Skath, it was her condemnation and curse... Something that came from her ancestors and that she should keep in her control bay. Each time they took care of her body, she lost a lot of herself to this other side of her. She didn't need a wild thing now, she needed to stay calm and finish that portion.

After just over an hour, Raven had two refined small bottles of energy magic ready to be administered to the prince in the palace and all she wanted at that moment was to be able to lie on her bed and sleep. She walked out of the hut where Roy was sitting on the rocks, throwing small pebbles in the distance looking quite bored.

\- "Here..." - She grunted holding out the two small bottles to Roy - "One dose will be enough for him to wake up and it is good that he take another one tomorrow, at the same time and after some meal..." - Raven grunted, trying to be clear enough and waiting for him to pick up the bottles and turn towards the horses - "In 48 hours he will be new again, as if nothing has happened to him..."

\- "You need to go, you know that..." - He grunted after silent minutes, looking at Raven's pale hand

\- "I was counting that you would let me stay, I really need to rest..."

\- "I can't go without you, that arrogant prince will rip my head and you know it..." - Raven took a deep breath and looked briefly in silence for the red-haired man in front of her. She knew he was serious, from the little she saw of Damian, she knew that he would be able to do anything to keep Raven as a prisoner and that not returning to Roy would be her suicide letter.

But all she could think about was taking a cup of chamomile tea and getting some sleep and then going deeper into the research of what was that magic that attacked the palace. There was something that Raven didn't like what it all and she needed to dig into her little knowledge about that species. Genies were volatile beings and could cause real, _difficult-to-fix_ problems...

If there were any around, she needed to prepare and study them.Raven snorted, nodding, giving up any fight she might start if she vehemently refused to go back to the palace. With any luck she would finish the job, deliver the rest of the medication to the care of a servant, and return in no more than half an hour. She almost felt her chest ache at the sight of her leaving her charming and cozy home.

\- "So..." - Roy grunted watching Raven yawn on the horse - "Are you not from here...?"

\- "Hm..." - Raven grunted trying to stretch her body and feeling the muscles protest, her way of traveling was certainly faster and more comfortable than riding a horse... Gods, how people rode on it all the time ? _Even her ass hurt_... - "No... I'm not..."

\- "So... Where are you from... America? Europe?"

\- "Hm..." - She took a deep breath - "None... In this place they hunt witches... And put them on bonfires... No... My place is far, farther than you can imagine..." - Raven smiled to herself, remembering Azarath and the only place she knew as home, but that never made her feel really at home. She could remember perfectly the columns that circled the entire courtyard and the water fountains that lay there, the smell of summer flowers that spread through the air and old books. It was so peaceful and quiet...

Too peaceful and too quiet, in Raven's opinion.

\- "Oh..." - He nodded slowly

\- "You're not from here either, right? The people here have cinnamon skins and their face contrasts as much as that of the king's sons..."

\- "No, I'm an outsider too..." - He smiled - "I arrived when I was no more than 13 years old brought by my adoptive family... I grew up with the two oldest princes, Richard and Jason ... I trained with them my whole life, I became boss of the archery guard when threats started to arrive..."

\- "And got involved with Prince Jason..." - Raven grunted looking curiously at him, it was much more productive to go the way talking, she didn't even notice the time passing. He turned quickly, looking at her a little surprised.

\- "How do you know?" - He raised an eyebrow, Raven just shrugged as if it were the most visible thing in the world

\- "It's not difficult to notice these things when you are empathetic..." - She smiled - "I can see the nuances in you, around you and the way the feelings pour in your voice..." - Raven took a deep breath - "I am empathic... That was why I was in the palace and because of that I got into this mess..."

\- "Empathic? Cool..." - He raised his eyebrow - "I think I never saw a witch with similar power... Usually the witches I saw are actually herbal healers and read things on tea grounds..." - Raven smiled

\- "I do that too..." - She laughed - "I learned all sorts of witches things when I studied with the monks and the grand master... Palmistry, spells, potions, how to manipulate healing herbs and herbs that can kill by just touching in them, astrophysics, astrology and astronomy, mathematics..." - Raven muttered - "But... I have this power inside me that makes things a lot easier..." - She opened her hand, handling the energy like a purple flame coming out of the palm of her hand - "My stupid father's inheritance..."

\- "Was your father a sorcerer too?"

\- "My father is a bastard..." - She grunted - "But I don't want to talk about it..." - She took a deep breath and looked back at Roy - "So... You and the sleeping beauty..." - She raised her eyebrow - "Do you have a relationship...?"

\- "More or less..." - Raven saw him sigh, sincerity reaching her like a branch of a that trees - "It started as a discovery when we were going to war, we just let things happen... We were friends before that, I grew up in that palace together with Dick and Jason, I saw the annoying little prince grow up and be trained incessantly every day by his brothers, by his father and mother... Jason is one of my best friends afterwards so... Things just... sexually happened..." - He shrugged, watching Raven make a pity face - "Don't look at me with pity, as if I were a dog kicked out of the house..." - He rolled his eyes, seeming to read Raven's thoughts.

Raven was trying to understand how he dealt with the fact that the prince would have to marry someone one day and it couldn't be him... The romantic relationships of humans were intriguing to Raven and she never tired of trying to understand them

\- "He will need to marry a princess or a daughter of some lord... Like everyone else..."

\- "Yes... And we're okay with that... The little prince's wedding is the priority because the crown depends on it but, eventually, he will have a wife... It's not like he's being forced too... We know how to enjoy the best created by the gods and everything is fine..."

\- "You like him... And yet, you're let him go?"

\- "It's complicated... Relationships are complicated..." - He gave a low chuckle - "You should know..."

\- "Ahnn... No..." - She rolled her eyes - "The relationship of humans is something that intrigues me a lot because I was never able to experience any of this... You humans suffer so much for a feeling... What's the name? Ah _love_..." - She wrinkled her nose - "I'm still learning the types of these feelings and I know that there are different loves and... You suffer for love and feel so much... I never even had much contact with maternal love, even though I know that my mother loved me in the small acts she could demonstrate to me... I was handed over to Grand Master Azur when I was still a newborn... I lived inside from a monastery practically every day of my life until I decided to ask permission to see my mother's world..." - She took a deep breath, looking at the clear sky above her - "Your world is intriguing..."

\- "You talk like you're not from this planet..."

\- "And I'm not... My mother is from this dimension, from a land called... America..." - She grimaced - "Knowing where I should be raised was something I wanted since I can understand myself, but... They aren't very receptive to beings with powers..."

\- "Oh... Yes..." - Roy laughed crookedly, nodding slightly - "I was raised by a family of native healers in America, my foster father taught me everything I know today... They were accused of witchcraft and well... The bonfire is the destination for witches and wizards in that, so... One bright day, a child alone in the world met the _Lord Oliver and his wife Dinah_ and they brought me here... They don't like the royal family very much but... You have _business_ connections with them..."

\- "So you know magic... Do you know the differences in magic...?"

\- "What are you talking about?

\- "I didn't do that..." - She grunted looking at him - "Poison someone? No, I didn't do that..." - She wrinkled her nose - "It was... It was something else... It smells like Jinni..."

\- "Jinni?"

\- "Yes... You must know as a genie..." - She scratched the back of her neck - "A spirit that can be benign or evil... They live in supernatural worlds between the human and the angelic... I read little about them in monks' library, they have little knowledge about this kind of species but... I'm sure it can't mean a good thing... This spirit saw an advantage in allying with some enemy of the queen... And this human is being used without realizing when he think he can control it... He can't control a wild spirit"

\- "Are you telling me that someone found some kind of magic lamp genius out there and decided to use it to overthrow the Al Ghul from the throne..."

\- "Yes..." - Raven took a deep breath - "Not necessarily a lamp, but... Someone found it and paid an expensive price to have this type of poison, this is black magic and really, very dangerous... It almost poisoned me and my kind of magic is... _different_...

\- "Then tell them what you are... Wait, what are you...? Because for me, you look very human..."

\- "Ahnn..." - Roy watched her turn her eyes to the trees and then, look back at her own hands - "I... I am... A witch different from the ones you are used to... And that's just what you need to know for the safety of all of you..."

\- "And what can saying what you are bring danger to someone?"

\- "People tend to want to use me when they find out who I am... What I am..." - She raised her eyebrow, looking bored - "And that means problems... It means people you love dying... I have sure there is a person you love too much and that you would prefer to protect..."

\- "Jay-"

\- "I'm not talking about the prince..." - She dropped her head - "There is one person in your life... A very pure and innocent parental love..."

\- "Hmmm..." - He swallowed - "There is... There is Lian... My baby daughter..."

\- "You have a daughter?" - Raven looked surprised and at the same time, feeling overwhelmed by the feeling that invaded Roy - "How old is she? Wait... And the mother? You and the prince don't chea-"

\- "She was left with me when she was still a baby..." - He took a deep breath - "I... I had a little bit... Rebel phase, if you will allow me to say... Her mother is a murderer and we had one troubled relationship... Lian is the best thing that came out of all this... Her mother left her with me and went back to what she was before..."

\- "Oh... Complicated..." - Raven took a deep breath - "But if it comfort you to know, she is much better with you... I can feel it... She couldn't have a better father to protect her..."

\- "Mmm..." - Roy nodded slowly - "Lian is my treasure... I don't know what I would do without her... I don't know what I would be without her..." - he took a deep breath and just looked ahead, the city appearing in front of them again. Raven wrinkled her nose, grimaced, she seemed to be riding that horse for a long eternity.

\- "So... It is better that you have no idea what I am... It is already difficult to control this bad part of me with all this avalanche of sensations... Things can end very badly when they discover what I am or what I can do, they usually capture me and use me for their own gains and for evil, thinking that I'm like a genie who grants wishes... And I am not a genie of the magic lamp, I am something... bigger... and... more dangerous..." - Raven took a deep breath - "If I get lost in the use of my powers things can get pretty bad... And that means civilizations on fire, sulfur and pain... You all better just think that I'm a weird witch that makes medicines in the middle of the woods..."

\- "Well... If you say it is for everyone's safety... I will keep your secret... Even if you haven't said much about..." - He gave a wry smile - "But I need to tie you up again... The little prince can be a pain in the ass when he is disobeyed... And if he sees that I untied you, he will create a whole theory of you bewitched me and will put us both in trouble..." - Raven grunted despondently seeing him descend from the horse and walk to her holding the rope in hands. She knew he was being sincere and didn't really want to tie her up again, but the prince had ordered him to take her as a prisoner and so she should be back, so she just stretched her wrists so he could pass the rope again.

\- "It is so uncomfortable to walk with your hands tied and on this animal... How do you manage to do this all day?"

\- "Hm... We don't walk with our hands tied and most of the time we use a very useful thing called _legs_..." - he grunted laughing - "How would you get to far places if not on horseback?"

\- "Portals..."

\- "Portals?" - He repeated with a frown - "What do you mean by _portals_?"

\- "This..." - Raven closed her eyes and moved her bound hand, a purple vortex appearing behind her and the little hut where they were just before appeared inside the vortex.

\- "Can you transport yourself anywhere like that?"

\- "Yes... It's like entering a room in your house... It can make you dizzy in the first time..." - She shrugged - "There is another way but... If I show you, you would have reason to shoot me..."

\- "Oh..." - Roy murmured more to himself than to Raven - "Your magic really is different from what I know..."

\- "And different from the one that poisoned your beloved..." - Raven grunted, watching Roy's cheeks turn as red as his hair or the armor he wore

\- "You said it was a genie...? This means that we are under attack from something we don't know... But surely the Queen knows something, her family is too old in these lands, they say that her father lived for centuries and centuries... Magic involved, so... Maybe I can help you find out about it... I believe that the princes and the queen will not object to a thorough investigation..."

\- "I was in the wrong place and at the wrong time... I said it wasn't me, but they don't trust me..." - Raven grunted snapping her fingers to close the portal behind her - "Knowing what I am I wouldn't trust on me too, but..."

\- "Hey... You saved Jason..." - He put his hand on top of hers - "I know I can regret it and you turn out to be a real bitch later but... Now you saved Jason and maybe protected Lian by not telling me who you are for whatever the reason, even though i don't understand it... i can help you prove your innocence..." - Raven smiled crookedly and nodded, feeling for the first time in all those months that she finally had someone who could maybe to call _friend_... Roy had a good and pure heart, Raven would like to sit down one day and talk to him about magic and the world while drinking a cup of tea... Even if he didn't like tea - "You fix Jason, and then, we talked to the king about what you said... The queen and the king are fair, they will hear you even if the pain in Damian's ass screams how much of a bitch you are..."

\- "Is he always like this?" - Raven grunted, tilting her head to the side, suddenly looking very interested in the little prince quoted by Roy.

\- "A rude and irritating person? It depends..." - He grunted returning to the horse - "He is more... Serious and unfriendly than his brothers... Because of the responsibilities... He had to learn to fight really early besides having to learn to be king for the future... But with you he is really hard... What did you do to him except throw him in the garden?"

\- "Well... He didn't even let me do anything, he arrived and was looking like a leaf in the wind when I got up, I swear on Azur... He was shaking, his voice stumbled a little and he held that bread knife as if it depended on it for a living..." - She grunted, holding back a laugh - "But he was confused and had... _Curiosity_ in him... So... When I went to tell you who I was, you showed up and he just put a dagger around my neck..." - She shrugged

\- "Oh..." - Roy laughed - "Got it..."

\- " _'Got it'_ what? - Raven grunted looking at Roy making the horse walk again while still laughing.

\- "Nothing..." - He grunted cynically, pushing his laughter inside - "Absolutely nothing..."

\- "Don't give me that now... What do you talking about, Roy Harper?" - He pursed his lips in a thin line, still holding back laughter.

\- "I said it was nothing..." - He grunted - "But... You can rest easy... Sooner or later he will end up softening his behavior with you... He is a cold with trust issues..."

\- "He doesn't have to trust me... Just don't try to kill me again and it's all right..." - She shrugged - "Deep down it's fun to see how offended he is by anything I say..."

\- "I imagine it is..." - He grunted still laughing and shaking his head - "Oh gods, _Jaybird_ will love to know that..." - Roy grunted laughing entering the city again, eyes avoiding contact with Raven's who seemed too curious about what he had said. They passed through the market in complete silence and Raven almost asked him to go on chatting with her about anything. 

_She was so tired..._

She hadn't slept until then and she had almost exhausted her efforts trying to save the prince and the fact that she was doing nothing but looking at the growing palace in front of her reminded her of it. The walk through the forest had made her forget her tiredness. Now and then Raven felt her eyes wanting to close and just the sound of conversation in the tents or Roy's whistle in front of her made Raven not fall asleep on that horse. It was difficult to balance with her hands tied but, she could just close her eyes and...

\- "Harper!" - The king's deep voice sounded in front of them, making Raven jump on the horse, blinking as she got used to the light

\- "Majesty..." - Roy jumped off his horse and bowed - "I brought the portion and the witch again..."

\- "Great... I was starting to think I did wrong in giving you that vote of confidence, witch..." - Bruce grunted, adjusting his posture as he watched Roy get Raven off his horse - Harper, you're excused ... Raven, let's take this portion... We can't waste any time" - Raven growled frustrated, why she had the feeling that it would never end and that more and more her home seemed like a distant dream? 

\- "Majesty... If it's not too much to ask, I would like to be notified when Prince Jason is well and awake..." - Roy grunted as Bruce and Raven walked towards the palace, the servants leading the horses to the stable, just pretending not to overhear the conversation between their masters.

Bruce stopped for a minute and looked at Roy, trying to understand the nature of the request and then took a deep breath and nodded slowly, seeming to think about it another time.

Raven could feel the cogs in Bruce's mind working to understand the level of relationship between his son and the commander.

\- "Of course, Commander Harper... I will send a messenger to inform you when my son has recovered his strength and conscience... By the way, we will need to discuss the security of the castle after that and you need to take notes of what happened so that it doesn't happen again..."

\- "Okay... I'll wait at my house for the message... Your majesty, miss Raven..." - He bowed and turned on his back, walking in the opposite direction from where they had entered. Raven watched Roy disappear between the walls and wonder how much the king and queen knew about the relationship between the prince and the commander.

\- "Miss Raven...?" - Bruce's voice sounded two or three steps away from Raven, bringing her back to the world of the living - "Could you accompany me?"

\- "Ahnn... Of course... I'm sorry, my... My head is far away..."

\- "I imagine you're tired, and I know I'm asking a lot of you... You didn't sleep, my son tied you up and you had to come back here... But I promise it's the last thing I ask you... I just... I need assurance that everything will end well..."

\- "So I'm free?"

\- "Yes, if you wish..." - He grunted untying her arm - "Will be free as soon as my son wakes up..."

\- "Okay, let's end this..." - Raven grunted, clinging to that guarantee as he thought about how cozy her little bed could be now, the sound of the crackle of wood on the stove and the rustle of olive leaves swaying in the wind. Raven swallowed the urge to yawn right there as she was guided by the king to the sleeping prince's room.

_Just a little more, Raven..._

\- "Here it is..." - He opened the door for her to pass, Raven mentally wondered where the hysterical little prince with green eyes was, but stopped caring when he didn't notice him anywhere - "You can work undisturbedly... My son retired to his quarters as soon as you left... He must be sleeping his 7th sleep now... He won't bother you with his trials..." - Raven grunted, trying not to show the edge of envy she felt in that at the moment, all she wanted was to be exactly in 7th sleep too 

\- "Okay... I appreciate that, thanks..." - Raven grunted, pushing another yawn. Bruce looked at her briefly and nodded slightly, making a move to leave and leave Raven alone - "Majesty... I know you promised my freedom when your son wakes up but... I would like to discuss the cause of this and prove my complete innocence in this attack... I have reason to believe that this was not the only attack that you will suffer..."

\- "Do you know what caused this?"

\- "I only have theories ... I need to do my research and magic studies to make sure, sir... But... I would like to explain to you and the queen after... You are in danger if I am right... The person who did this will try again when he knows he has failed... Your family is the target, King Bruce... And you are under a silent attack" - Raven watched the king take a deep breath and then let it out slowly, analyzing the pros and cons of what the girl in front of him had said and then, waved that yes with the head.

\- "Okay... When you need it, let some servant know and we can discuss the cause of this... _Attack_..."

\- "Yes, majesty..." - Raven grunted and bowed awkwardly, remembering the manners of etiquette that the monks had once taught her. Bruce left the room leaving Raven and the prince silent. He was alive and well, only in deep, weak sleep, that magic had taken part of his life force and to be honest, she thought it had taken from her too. Raven walked slowly to the bed while taking the bottle out of the leather pocket tied around her waist, she prayed that no drop had fallen in the way, that portion was the exact amount and sometimes, lids are as efficient as a sieve to cover the Sun.

She took a deep breath and made a quick assessment of the prince's health. He was fine, his heart rate was normal, his breathing was okay. He was alive and well, just sleeping like a baby, perfectly normal, except for the small streak of white hair growing at the height of his forehead.

Raven swallowed, that hair wasn't there before... 

_And she knew it was her magic at work..._

She had problems with white hair growing on her head years before when her grand master convinced her to train her powers harder. They showed up when she used too much... And it was a sign that things could get out of control if she stretched more... It meant her father and that was never a good thing. She just didn't know that she could end up growing them in someone else too. Raven took a deep breath, she would explain that to the prince when he woke up, maybe he would find a way to dye them or maybe, in time he would just stop being white just like hers...

_Damn, this world was complicated..._

Raven uncapped the bottle and recited an incantation that she remembered learning to use while with one hand she held the bottle and with the other she made the prince drink it in a way that would not suffocate him... Raven had come this far and was almost free, he couldn't risk killing the choking prince while trying to medicate him.

Azur almost never let Raven use his magic for trivialities, but she thought that making the prince not choke wasn't so trivial. A tentacle opened its mouth and it just needed just the right moment to push the liquid inside. Raven jumped back two times when he gasped a little, opened his eyes toward her and then fell back on the bed sleeping again, a loud snore resounding on the bedroom walls.

Raven took a deep breath with relief, everything was fine.

She could feel life starting to run in his being again and the snoring between the pillows told her that everything was in place, and she just needed to go home and nothing else would torment her.

Raven blew out a breath and plopped into an armchair near the bed, stretching her legs to relax as she felt the bones crack. Her waist ached, her fingers ached, her spine hurt... Azur, even her ass hurt...

_It is certain that she would never ride a horse again in her life._

Raven took a deep breath and looked out the window, watching the warm sky turn orange and the sun begin to set over the horizon, listening to the sound of a bird in the distance. She needed to go talk to the king about the attack and leave quickly so she wouldn't have to sneak around the forest too late, but that chair was as comfortable as her bed and her eyes were so heavy, that Raven didn't notice when she grabbed her cloak against her body and her eyes closed, falling asleep in an extremely uncomfortable position and would make her regret it later.

But nothing mattered at that moment, just the sound of someone's calm breathing somewhere in her head and the warmth of her cloak around her small body. Raven felt her body soften in the chair and her mind cloud taking her to the realm of dreaming. 

Everything was fine, she could let herself fall into the realm of Morpheus and dream of cinnamon, pepper, spice and honey and bright emerald eyes


	5. Chapter 4

Damian opened his eyes when the sun was already setting, painting the horizon in orange tones. He shouldn't have slept at that hour, but after the witch left, he felt his body tired and his eyes too heavy to fight. He hadn't slept well since they had made camp to return from the war and the night before he just forgot how much he wanted his bed when all the mess of Jason's poisoning happened. When silence came over the palace and he felt strangely empty watching the witch and Roy Harper disappear into the movement of the market waking up in front of them, he felt tiredness hit him hard and the only thing he managed to do was fall into bed and travel to the realm of dreams.

And he dreamed of a bird, with violet eyes and the smell of lavender and herbs... It was strange to dream of smells, but Damian knew it was that and for some reason, it made his chest feel weird.

It was as if he missed that smell all his life... Damian took a deep breath and ran a hand over his face, rubbing his eyes as they got used to the late afternoon light. That witch should have been back by now and he was starting to worry that his father had mistakenly trusted someone they had just met... Jason had been in a kind of deep sleep since she did that magic rune show and strange voices that mesmerized him.

He grunted nervously and sat on the bed, determined to get those thoughts out of his head... If Raven and Roy hadn't come back yet, he would need to start a search through the forest and he would bring her head on a tray if his suspicions were correct and that was what he was supposed to focus on. Damian stood up and looked around, watching his own body reminding him of his own needs and decided it was a great time for a nice cold bath, to help put his ideas in place before going to find out if Raven was there and start planning a search plan... The forest was mysterious, many people said that whoever entered it, disappeared... His mother had told him that the sorceress who made her pregnant could have appeared and disappeared right in that forest, but it was just tales of superstition in Damian's opinion...

Everything has a reason and people just don't disappear for nothing.

He would find that witch even if he needed to turn the world upside down. _She was **his prisoner** , she **belonged to him** and she **couldn't run from him** like that... She **couldn't just disappear**_...

Damian looked at the still water around his body, reflecting his own thoughts and not calming the impulses that those possessed thoughts caused. Why couldn't she just disappear? Why did he have to remember that she was his prisoner? She didn't belong to him... She was just a witch who appeared there and that she probably had a life away from that palace, that mess and mainly, away from him.

She was just someone he should be concerned about as a future king, a possible criminal who might have tried to murder him... Why did he feel his chest floating whenever he remembered his hand around her waist and how his mind traveled when he saw her vulnerable or how her eyes locked on his as he tightened the rope on her wrists?

Damian swallowed hard and got out of the bath determined to push these things to the back of his mind. The cold water wasn't calming his nerves and it certainly wasn't stopping him from thinking about how smooth her skin felt in his hands. That discomfort in his stomach at the thought of her was already being painful for him and It was certainly the effect of time in war and it was certainly the damn hormones in his body reminding him that he was no longer just a small boy... She was an attractive woman, his body was expected to react to attractive women... He didn't have much experience with attractive women before

_He had no experience with any woman, to be honest._

He took a deep breath away from the thoughts while the servants dressed him, he would focus on this assassination attempt now and on women and relationships later when he had to think about it for the sake of the kingdom. It was late afternoon and he had lost most of the day while he slept, he would use the time awake and the silence of the night to work on finding a culprit for this... Or to blame that woman. 

Damian dismissed the servants and walked towards Jason's room to see if the witch had already returned or if he would need to set up a search party when his heart stopped beating for 5 seconds and then threatened to float out of his chest. Jason was snoring loudly as he always did what seemed like a good sign.

 _He was alive, wasn't? That should be a good sign_...

And in the corner curled up in an armchair was Raven. Her small body was barely hidden completely by the blue cloak she held like a blanket. The hood was down and rested untied against her shoulders, which moved almost imperceptibly with her breathing, leaving the milky skin of her face, pink lips half open and black ebony hair visible to him and only him and, for some reason Damian unconsciously looked for paper and graphite.

It was stupid how beautiful and peaceful she was and how ridiculous he wanted to draw her at that moment.

She seemed too tired to sleep so heavy with the noise Jason was making. Raven, the _violet-eyed witch_ slept sitting in the armchair, the unruly strands of her hair fell on her face and Damian controlled the sudden itch in his hand and an absurd urge to put her hair behind her ear. Part of him scolded himself for feeling these things, the other part wanted to pick her up in his arms and take her to a guest room... In that chair, all she could do was get more tired and with a stiff neck.

_Not that he really cared._

Damian allowed himself to be watching her for a considerably awkward period, watching with her pale fingers holding the part of the cloak against her chest and how her breath came out almost inaudible compared to Jason's snores that took over the entire room and how her eyes they opened slowly when Jason grunted, protesting to wake up.

He watched as she blinked to get used to the end-of-day lighting in the room... Violet eyes opening, two amethysts very rare to find out there illuminating every corner of Damian's mind in a strange way. Raven yawned and sat down in the armchair, unaware of the presence at the door looking at her for almost 20 full minutes almost without blinking. She stretched her arms feeling the muscles in her shoulders crack as she stretched and swore under her breath as she moved her neck, deeply regretting that she fell asleep in that place.

Damian watched her place her hand where it seemed to be painful and a faint purple light came out of her hands, relieving the tension created by the bad way she had fallen asleep and then she sighed in relief with her eyes closed and her lips parted. Damian couldn't take his eyes off her and felt pathetic about it...

_Was she using magic against him? Was she hypnotizing him?_

She opened her eyes and looked at Jason and then, her eyes met his, making him realize that he had been looking at her for all that time, embarrassment making his cheeks instantly warm.

\- "Hm... You..." - She grunted rolling her eyes as she stretched again and stood up, pretending not to care that Damian was there.

\- "You came back..." - Damian managed to grumble after a while trying to find his own voice. He shook his head and straightened up, trying to push anything that was going on there when he watched her so relaxed... _Why did he have this feeling that he could watch her the rest of the day? It was as if he needed to draw her sleeping at that very moment..._ Damian took a deep breath controlling his own impulses as he was taught to do, mentally passing on what he had thought before... It was just his body reacting to an attractive woman... And he could control these sensations in his body as long as he remembered who she was...

Someone he should be thinking of locking in the dungeons, not in his arms and in his room...

\- "Unfortunately your soldier was too loyal to let me rest in the quiet of my hut... So yes, I came back... But don't believe that I'm happy with that..." - Raven grunted without looking at him - "I'd rather wake up seeing my own demons than see you staring at me like a freak..."

\- "It was the order to bring you back... My father's order... And I'm not a freak!"- He watched her walk to the bed and sit on the edge, placing his hand on Jason's forehead - "By the way... It's reciprocal... I'm not happy with the presence of a witch in my palace too..." - She looked at him for a long second and then smiled, shaking her head.

\- "Great, so we're even... I don't like it here either... Like you said, it was an order..." - Raven said without looking at him and then stopped looking ahead and Damian saw a faint shade of pink flush her cheeks - "Could you hold your mind, feelings and pants? I... I feel more than I see and... Someone could really think the opposite if they looked at you and they couldn't feel all this hate that you feel for me" - She grunted looking at a fixed point and then smiled and Damian rolled his eyes and snarled, crossing his hands in front of his pants, feeling ashamed at the same moment.

_How did she know? It's not like she's looking at him and his pants._

\- "I said..." - She mumbled, seeming to read his thoughts - "I feel more than I see... I can feel your desire fighting your anger..."

\- "Get out of my head, witch..."

\- "I'm not in your head... Your feelings are stronger than anything in this room" - Damian ground his teeth and just tried to ignore what she had said.

It was a natural reaction, right? He had learned that it was a natural reaction that he had learned to control. He was silent for a few seconds, trying to keep some of his decency for himself... That was the dream's fault and he thought that after a while it would just leave, but it only got worse when he watched her little show at wake up. Damian swayed on his heels and looked away, trying to find what to do with his own hands. He felt like he wanted to hold her against his body or strangle her with the same intensity...

These feelings were too confusing and he had the feeling that it was her magic making him confused... He was sure it was making him feel blind to her true intentions.

Jason grunted again looking like he was having a nightmare and then opened his eyes, finding Raven's hand on his forehead and the amethyst eyes checking him. Damian watched him blink a few times as if trying to get used to the view and then smile at the 'Jason Todd' way of being. He was a complete idiot and Damian should have seen that coming.

\- "If I died, please don't bring me back..." - Jason grunted hoarsely - "Because I just saw an angel..." - Damian rolled his eyes so hard that he felt dizzy.

_What was the problem with all the men in that palace?_

\- "You didn't die, Your Majesty..." - Raven said smiling, placing her palm on Jason's forehead taking his temperature. Damian felt that bitter twinge in his stomach and gritted his teeth, why was she smiling that way at Jason? She couldn't smile that way at Jason - "But you are recovering from an assassination attempt... It is important that you relax and rest until tomorrow..."

\- "Well... So the angels live on earth now...?" - He raised his eyebrow \- "Stop being stupid, Todd..." - Damian grunted angrily feeling a twinge of bitterness in his mouth, a poison running through his chest. Why did he feel that? What was that feeling of possession? - "She is not to be wooed... She is a witch..."

\- "Oh... Witch... That makes things a lot more interesting..." - Jason nodded slowly and with a little difficulty sat down, feeling everything spin around him - "Although I enjoy waking up with a really stunning woman by my side, I would like someone to explain to me what this headache is and why there is a witch in mine bedroom? I don't remember that wine had that power, but this is the worst hangover ever..."

\- "Ah thank the gods you woke up!" - The queen's voice came from behind Damian, with a river of emotions drowning Raven... It was too overwhelming to be around pregnant women, Raven felt twice as much emotions. Damian looked at his mother and father behind him and made room for the watery green-eyed woman to run past Jason while holding her huge belly.

\- "Oh... Hey mom..." - He grunted as she filled him with hugs and kisses, before grabbing his ear with her fingers

\- "Never scare me like that again... Okay? I thought I lost you!"

\- "Okay... Ouch... Okay, I'm not going to do this again..."

\- "It's great to see you well again, Jason..." - Bruce grunted with his hand on Damian's shoulder - "Your brother Damian was very concerned about your health and looking for culprits..."

\- "But... But what really happened" - Jason grunted confused, looking at Raven, Talia, Damian and Bruce - "I thought it was just a hangover after drinking wine last night... How long was I unconscious?"

\- "For just over 15 hours, Prince Jason"

\- "You don't have a hangover, Todd... Didn't you hear her say? You were almost killed..." - Damian grunted rolling his eyes - "A _witch_ tried to kill you..." - He looked at Raven

\- "Not quite a witch, Prince Jason..." - Raven replied ignoring Damian's gaze on her - "I am convinced that you are dealing with something magical, but that you don't belong in this world..."

\- "Wait, wait, wait... Let's take it easy in all this situation... I was almost killed? By a witch or something... A ghost? But why does anyone want to kill me? The crowned prince is the little shit, not me..."

\- "Apparently you were in the wrong place and eating the wrong thing, son... The target was certainly one of us 3... Especially the queen or your brother..."

\- "Sir... I have strong suspicions of whoever did this and would talk to the queen and the king as soon as I healed him... I can start doing a thorough search and find out who did this but, I need details of what I may have been the vector of that magic... Do you remember anything before you passed out? Any smell or taste? Or someone...?"

\- "Well... We had come back from the war and there was a banquet because the little shit turned 17..." - Jason wrinkled his nose as if in pain while poking at the memories - "The invited girls, daughters of lords and chiefs of the guard bring present in the hope that one captures the prince's heart and stomach, a stupid tradition if I may say..." - He frowned - "But he never cares about any of them even though he knows the law..." - Jason looked to Damian who just rolled his eyes - "The kitchen was full of delicacies and sweets that these girls brought and I was experimenting them since after all, he wasn't going to eat this and would probably be given to the poor... And then... Everything went blank"

\- "Confess at once, witch and spare us..." - Damian rolled his eyes and Raven just looked at him seriously and then turned to Jason again.

\- "Wait, things are very confusing here... She tried to murder me and you still leave her here? How did she convince you not to take her head off, mother?"

\- "I didn't understand it myself, my son... And it would be a great time for explanations..."

\- "I didn't do it!" - Raven growled angrily - "How many times do I need to say?"

\- "You were in the garden at the time Jason was poisoned..."

\- "And I explained the reason..."

\- "Conversation with birds... Tsc... And you expect me to believe?"

\- "I don't expect anything at all, Your Majesty... Only that you stop being a complete idiot drawing your stupid conclusions..."

\- "I told you to bend your tongue when you talk to me... I am the future king and I will rule this kingdom and be sovereign of those who live here... I will be _your_ king..."

\- "And I said I will not bend anything... You don't rule me and I will not endure your insults quietly when I spent an entire night saving your brother and being a maid for your family... You didn't even say thank you, majesty..."

\- "Do you expect me to thank you for fixing it?"

\- "Hey... I don't need to be fixed! I am perfect and sexy the way the gods did..."

\- "Shut up..." - Both said looking at Jason at the same time and then looked at each other again

\- "And why would I save a prince after trying to kill him? Seriously, Prince Damian... You can't be that dumb..."

\- "I don't know what your intentions are but, I'll find out... And I won't let you deceive my whole family with your stupid little show of colors and voices... You don't fool me..."

\- "You talk like you don't have all your attention on me, my _'stupid little show of colors and voices'_... You didn't even take your eyes off me..."

\- "You would never get my attention..." - He rolled his eyes

\- "So please, stop looking at me like I'm an object of desire for you... Seriously, your feelings are out of control... It's giving me a headache..."

\- "This conversation is getting interesting..."

\- "You are crazy... You are nothing of my interest..."

\- "You two... Stop now" - Talia scolded - "My young girl... What's your name?"

\- "Raven, my queen... My name is Raven..." - The girl answered making a bow in front of Talia and completely ignoring Damian rolling her eyes

\- "Yes, of course... Raven..." - She repeated, as if to keep in her mind

\- "Mother, I am convinced that she is involved in this..." - Damian said with his eyes locked on his mother's - "I was going to check what had landed in the garden and left Todd in the kitchen, a few minutes later, the accident happened and she attacked me... Harper and Pennyworth are witnesses, they saw when she hurled me across the bushes."

\- "I am also a witness of what happened Damian..." - Bruce said calmly - "And you had attacked first... You know you gave her the opening to attack back... She was defending herself from your dagger in her neck..."

\- "SHE KICKED YOUR ASS? WHY DO THE BEST THINGS HAPPEN WHEN I'M UNCONSCIOUS?"

\- "Shut up, Todd... I was attacked by surprise... It won't happen again..." - Damian rolled his eyes

\- "Did you act on impulse, my child?" - Talia grunted looking at Damian who swallowed anything that was stuck in his throat and just nodded - "So she didn't attack you..."

\- "And as you said, Prince Damian..." - Raven muttered with his arms crossed - "I was arriving at your garden... There was no way I could leave something in your kitchen when you were there and then go to the garden... I was called here by your bird..." - She grunted

\- "So what was it that almost killed me?" - Jason had raised eyebrows - "And Hey, what is this white hair?"

\- "You had been poisoned by something old and strong, Prince Jason... As old as the walls that surround this city... I had to use all my magic so that it wouldn't take your life... This... This white streak of hair is... it's a consequence...

\- "Oh... I think I'm really sexy with that white streak, don't you think little witch?"

\- "You will have to ask the girls in the kingdom, Prince Todd," - Raven grunted with a chuckle. She still wasn't sure how much they knew about Jason and Roy and she definitely didn't want to be the news bearer.

\- "Surely that guardian boy will be able to answer you too... What's his name again?" - Talia put her hand on her chin trying to remember the name - "Roy Harper, right? Surely he will know how to answer you how sexy or not you were... But... Between us, my dear... You are my son, you are sexy by nature..."

\- "Mother!" - Jason grunted and Talia laughed, getting up and going to Raven

\- "What my son?" - She grunted laughing - "This whole city knows about you... And well, it's not something we forbid..."

\- "You know?" - Raven grunted - "I mean... About them?"

\- "Of course..." - Talia whispered in the girl's ear - "But we let them think not... You know, my dear... Love is not forbidden inside these walls... Jason knows he will have to choose a wife one day but... This doesn't mean that we prohibit all forms of love here... He can continue with his beloved one until the day comes to meet someone he should marry... Hopefully, he meets some girl on the way up to that day and marries her... And the terms of their marriage will be theirs alone..." - Raven nodded, not trying to upset the queen. She could feel the spark of a lie there that she wanted to unravel what it was, but did not imagine what it could be.

Raven had heard about the 3 bastard sons of the king, about the parties the former king held and about the affairs and other wives they might have, but she just thought it was a big rumor... She honestly didn't know if she felt comfortable enough to share someone she loved with other people and she admired who did it... She was a too proud person to share someone... She would never allow her beloved prince to have another... If he loved another then, let him marry that other... She was too jealous and this jealousy could normally poison her more than what the sleeping prince ate.

_Wait, why was she thinking that? And why did she think of Damian when she thought of it?_

Raven shook her head trying to get back to the main subject: _Jason and his poisoning_.

\- "Majesties... I... I have strong suspicions that you are dealing with an ancient force known as _Jinni_..."

\- " _Jinni_?" - Damian grunted, tilting his head to the side - "Are you talking about those spirits that inhabit the human and angelic world?"

\- "Exactly..." - Raven grunted without looking at Damian - "Where I came from, this kind of mythological being doesn't exist, but the monks had studied a little because of mine..." - Raven paused what she was saying and then shook the head. If she said the Jinni served her family, she would be handing her head on a silver tray - "They are dangerous, volatile and use human greed for their own purposes... They are too old forces and this is especially blood magic... Whoever found this will try again when it realizes that it failed... I can try to deepen my knowledge of them and who can be his master, but... I need you to remember as much as you can, Prince Jason... And I need you to find the rest of what he may have eaten..."

\- "You can find?"

\- "And so, use the time we give you to escape?" - Damian grunted rolling his eyes

\- "Although I despise being in your company, Prince Damian, I am concerned about not only your family but also the people of this realm... And I also have personal reasons to worry that this kind of supernatural species is using a human for its evil designs of revenge against a force greater than your little syndrome of greatness... If I planned to run away I wouldn't be willing to help find who tried to murder you..."

\- "And what do you get out of it?"

\- "Nothing... But I have a mission... For some reason, I was put in your path and for some reason I have to find this diabolical spirit... I don't like being around such an irritating presence at all as for yours but, I don't question the plots of fate..."

\- "Bullshit..." - Damian rolled his eyes - "Superstition is for fools..."

\- "Damian Al Ghul..." - Talia scolded the boy

\- "What, mother...?" - Damian grunted shrugging - "Don't come and tell me you are believing her too? Are you the only skeptic in this room and also believe in this bunch of bullshit?""

\- "Yes, I believe... The stories of our past aren't just stories, my treasure... You learned them as a child because only by knowing our past can you go on to a future... The Jinni were real when your grandfather conquered this place, you know... There's no reason to be disbelieving with what the girl said..."

\- "So you will believe her?"

\- "And why not?" - Jason grunted - "Her story seems very convincing to me... Talking to birds? I do this every day..."

\- "You can only be kidding me..." - Damian grunted rolling his eyes

\- "My treasure" - Talia mumbled walking to him - "I understand your frustration and your anger..." - the Queen put her hands on the boy's face and smiled - "I understand your distrust, but at this moment we need answers... Our home is threatened since before of you being born and someone is willing to try to take you from me... I can't bear to think about losing you, my greatest treasure... The treasure that I dreamed of for years to have... I need to believe in her, a help how this one gave you to me, my precious treasure, 17 years ago... I can't let her go again when they are threatening your life and all of us..."

\- "But... Mother-"

\- "My child, enough!" - She put her hands on his shoulder, trying to make him understand. Damian was as stubborn as his father and as hardheaded as his mother - "I will not judge your distrust Damian and I understand your question about trusting someone under your suspicions, I understand your suspicions and I see a foundation in them... You need to understand that we don't trust as you imagine, we also have our doubts and fears..." - She looked at him - "But it is what we have now... And I will not risk your life, the life of your brothers and sisters and my people because you have a schism in your head... You understood me?" - Damian looked to the mother and took a deep breath just nodding - "Great..."

\- "Hm..." - Raven grunted trying to relieve the tension created between all of them - "Prince Jason... Do you remember anything that smelled or looked strange?"

\- "Hm..." - Jason scratched his chin, poking his memory again - "I can't remember well, it seems that everything was erased as in a night of a lot of alcohol... But... On second thought, those muffins tasted very really bad..." - He grunted - "Like mold and sand..."

\- "Sand?" - Raven repeated, head tilting to the side

\- "Yes, princess... Sand... I thought it was the fact that these girls who try to capture my little brother by the stomach are only terrible cooks, but they tasted like sand and mold..."

\- "I don't know if I'm surprised that you eat something with that taste or if I'm surprised that you know exactly what mildew tastes like..."

\- "You would be surprised by the things I know the taste, little shit..."

\- "I definitely don't want to know..."

\- "Some tastes you will have to find out one day, little Damian... Or else I feel sorry for your poor future wife..."

\- "Well..." - Raven grunted attracting the attention of the two brothers - "This can be a clear evidence of my suspicions about the _Jinni_... How were these muffins?"

\- "Nothing special," - Jason shrugged - "Small and looking undercooked, the center looked like a mixture of slime and apricot jam... Not pleasant... There were about 3 or 4..."

\- "I can't believe that even with that horrible taste you still ate it..."

\- "I needed to give my approval based on taste... Anyway, there was a savory dumpling filled with goat cheese that was great..."

\- "You're disgusting, Jason Todd..."

\- "I'm not... But now you owe me one, Damian..." - He laughed - "I saved your fat ass, little shit..."

\- "Oh gods..." - Damian grunted shaking his head - "Why did this asshole survive"

\- "Boys... Language!" - Talia scolded the two with a look - "We have a lady between us..."

\- "Oh... Sorry, angel..." - Jason grunted smiling

\- "It won't happen again... _Mother_..." - Damian grunted between his teeth

\- "Great... Well... What can we do now, my dear?" - Talia turned to Raven and she felt a shiver run down her spine. That woman exuded a power so great that Raven felt like a grain of sand near her. It was as if she could kill Raven with a look.

_What was impossible and that shiver was irrational_

\- "Hm... I need everything he ate... I will use my books and spells and try to contact my master... You limit the entrance to the palace to only trusted employees and don't eat anything from outside and don't accept gifts..."

\- "Alfred will be more than happy to know that the kitchen will be his alone..." - Bruce muttered with a hand on Talia's shoulder

\- "This kind of magic leaves no smell, but it has no appetizing appearance or tasty color... Ask the guards to check anything that comes in here... Mr. Harper has experience with magic, as he told me... It can be of great help..."

\- "Oh Harper walking around the palace will be interesting..." - Damian grunted rolling his eyes

\- "Okay... We will do what you recommended..."

\- "Well... The prince is already well..." - Raven grunted smiling and took a second bottle from the leather pocket tied around her waist - "This is the second dose of the portion ... He needs to take it tomorrow and everything will be fine... It's important that he eat light meals for two or three days and walk a little in the sun... And that he sleeps for a considerable 8 hours without interruption..."

\- "I will arrange for the palace servants to follow your recommendations and we will take the security measures you have told us..."

\- "I couldn't be more grateful..." - Talia said smiling - "Thank you for saving my son... The gods didn't give me the honor of him being my son of blood, but he is my son of heart... I would die a little if I lost him forever... Forgive us for the offenses that my youngest son directed at you... He is the future king and has learned to distrust everything and everyone... Maybe we have taught him to have an excess of care in the wrong way... Forgive us for any offense that has been directed at you..."

\- "It's all right, my majesty..." - Raven smiled and bowed - "I understand your family's doubts in me and I will do my best to deserve your trust... But... I'm tired now and I need to go to my home before night falls on the forest..."

\- "Actually, we wanted to make a proposal... An offer as payment for your services..."

\- "Ahnn... No... It's not necessary, Your Majesty..."

\- "You are a talented sorceress, Miss Raven..." - Bruce grunted looking at Talia and then looked at Raven - "Your healing methods for our son were extraordinary and during this period when you helped us, two of our servants came to tell us about your medicines and your services to the people in our little kingdom... So, Miss Raven, in this difficult time, we need someone with your knowledge nearby... Especially with my wife, the queen, in the last days of pregnancy... It would be a pleasure to have you with us in our palace..."

\- "What?"

\- "WHAT? Is this some bad joke?"

\- "Oh this will be fun..."

\- "Damian!"

\- "Miss Raven... Would you accept the invitation to be the royal healer?" - Bruce muttered without ceremony, as if he were telling her to have tea. Raven opened her mouth and closed it again, not sure what to say. She had never been called for something so serious and she didn't really know if it was what she wanted.

But she remembered what Azur had said to her when she was leaving Azarath, she clearly remembered her mentor telling her that she needed to find the queen of a small kingdom where the scorching desert sun met the sea... A city hidden behind rocks led by a fair queen with emerald eyes and her children at heart...

It took Raven time to find that city, but now she honestly didn't know if she wanted to be under the judgmental gaze of the crowned prince... She could feel that feeling coming from him, an anger she couldn't explain and she knew it was derived from hatred that he had for her...It was the only possible explanation for how he managed to get her out of serious...

\- "Mother! Did you allow that? Did you allow my father to believe her?"

\- "We need all kinds of help, Damian... I told you..." - Talia grunted without looking at her son - "I am in my last days of pregnancy, I cannot trust that nothing more will reach us and I will stay guard for a considerable period when the baby is born..."

\- "We already have healers..."

\- "They are not magicians..." - Bruce mumbled - "They are doctors, they can help with medicine and only that, she can help us with magic... Without her your brother would have died..."

\- "You can't do that!"

\- "We can... You are not the regent yet, Damian... I am still the queen and I want someone as powerful as her by my side..." - Talia said smiling at Raven - "Better to have her on our side than against us... Is that what you're trying to do, Damian? Create enemies for our kingdom before you are the king?"

\- "No... Of course not..." - He looked confused looking at Raven, things in his head seemed to fit. Was this what she wanted from the beginning? Poison someone to enter the palace? To be able to have them all in your palm? - "But-"

\- "So if that's not what you want, don't you agree that we better have a strong ally like her on our side? And that you as a future leader need to learn to overcome your own hatred and distrust and learn to draw allies even in the midst of enemies in the midst of war?"

\- "Yes, mother... But-"

\- "So we are all agreed that Raven will be the royal sorceress if she so wishes...?" - Damian swallowed the cake that formed in his throat, unable to go against his mother's orders... It was suicide to go against anything that Talia Al Ghul put on his head, he knew that well.He ground his teeth and looked at the woman with ebony hair and porcelain skin in front of him, that feeling coursing through his veins like a poison he couldn't get rid of. And he felt stupid for continuing to feel all that mess of things he did.He just wanted to be able to prove that she was the cause of all this mess... And he meant the mess she was making with him.

\- "Ahnn... It's an incredible invitation, majesty... Seriously, I... I don't even know how to thank..."

\- "Just accept... We can prepare a place for you here... You won't need to go back to the solitude of the middle of the forest..."

\- "A girl like you can't live alone in such a distant place..."

\- "It was what you planned, right?" - Damian tilted his head to the side - "Enter the palace as a heroine... The prince's savior..."

\- "No... It wasn't..." - She grunted looking at Damian - "And despite your immense kindness, my queen... I can't accept living in a place where they hate me... Feelings like that of the prince poison me and I can't imagine living with someone with a mood as acid as he does every day... It would be a punishment for my empathy... And also, I don't want to leave my little home..." - She mumbled - "I'm sorry if I'm being rude, but I don't want to live in your palace and I didn't do it to get riches or titles... My duty here was to save a life, that was my destiny... I can't accept assets in exchange for that..."

He opened his mouth and closed it again, what did she want then? Why would she accept all that if it wasn't for something? Gold? If it wasn't to have the confidence of the kingdom and live inside the palace with royal titles? What did she gain from all this?

Damian's head turned into a huge mess of question marks that he didn't know how to answer.

He tilted his head to the side, looking at her trying to find something on her face that would give him some sign to continue his suspicion, but everything he found made his heart flutter in his chest when she bit her bottom lip so slightly that he wondered if she did it unconsciously...  
Damian found himself wondering what her lips would taste like and then he shook his head to push those thoughts away.

\- "But... We want you with us..." - Talia grunted holding her hands - "Please, if there is something we can do to make you stay in our court..." - Raven received a load of feelings from the queen who it made her feel almost dizzy, the queen was being sincere, she wanted someone like Raven around certainly because she knew how powerful Raven could be. The queen was just and powerful and Raven saw her as a lioness who would give all the wealth she had to protect her brood... Even if it meant keeping a person that her son despised inside the palace walls.

And Raven knew she was really being honest when she said that she would rather have someone like Raven on her side than against her... She was also strategically thinking about a possible war. Raven didn't know how to feel about it.

Being used as the surprise factor of a war was not quite what she planned when she got there.

\- "I thank you majesty... Deeply..." - Raven took a deep breath and adjusted the cloak on her shoulders - "I will attend you the moment you need my services and I promise to keep looking for the origin of what tried to kill your son, but... I need to go home..."

Raven watched the king and queen look at each other and then take a deep breath and nod, looking disappointed that they couldn't convince her to stay there. It was a tempting offer mainly because she would have access to a library much larger than her few stacked books and going to the market would be easier, but just thinking about spending a few hours with the prince in aura as striking as Damian's aura, always looking at her as if deciding whether to kill her or kiss her made her dizzy and with a headache.

It made her feel like she could kiss or kill him at any time too... And that was driving her crazy, especially after dreaming with the emerald eyes that made her feel almost naked.

\- "Okay... You are free to go... There is no accusation weighing on you" - Bruce muttered - "It is a pity that we cannot have someone like you with us, but we understand that it is not your will... Accepted by unless we pay you for your services...? Gold? Jewels?"

\- "My freedom is enough..."

Bruce nodded, motioning for him to accompany her towards the door of the prince's room, hoping that a conversation to the gates would be enough to change her mind. Raven said goodbye to everyone with a bow, her eyes meeting a greenish ocean looking at her curiously as she looked up.

 _It was as if he devoured her inside and burned her_...

That look made her feel things she hadn't felt before, it was like he wanted to know every inch of her and also kill every inch of her... He was a messy mess she wanted to see far enough and as quickly as possible.

The path followed by the king to the exit didn't change her mind at any time and the king was disappointed that his power of persuasion wasn't as good and strong as he thought. Any girl at her age would drop everything to live inside the palace, any girl would demand things to save the prince... She just demanded her own freedom and flew away like a bird on the distant horizon in the same time Roy arrived in the room and finding Jason awake and making the same stupid jokes as always.

And Damian looking out the window, watching a black bird get lost on the horizon of the night that fell in the kingdom.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_**2 weeks later** _

Two weeks passed after the failed assassination attempt took place, two very calm weeks for a kingdom that had just won a war and was still in a battle that they couldn't see. Jason was fine again, as if nothing had happened to him, Dick had met the princess he was going to court for 12 months before the wedding, Tim tried to spend his days awake with caffeine studying the attacks and Damian felt extremely empty .

After that sunset, he didn't see the violet-eyed girl anymore. She disappeared like smoke on the horizon and he felt that she had taken his soul too. Sometimes Damian found himself making plans to be able to go after her without knowing _why he was planning this_ , he just felt that if he didn't see her again, his heart would stop beating...  
Sometimes in those weeks he dreamed of her, dressed in green and gold, smiling and dancing just for him and all he could think about was having her in his arms. Sometimes he dreamed of having her in his arms, of experiencing her lips and woke up in the middle of the night, breathless and confused by what was going on inside him, having to resort to an ice bath to calm his own nerves and his own body... No woman had aroused that kind of feeling in him and he started to think that maybe, she had bewitched him at some point.

After two weeks of the events and no other threats, Queen Talia decided it was an excellent time to celebrate that her son was alive. Her pregnancy was healthy and the healers estimated that she would still have the child for a few more weeks and that Jason's health was strong as a bull. She didn't see the witch again, but she knew she was in town yet, Queen Talia heard what her people were saying about the mysterious witch living in a hut in the middle of the olive grove.

She also knew that she hadn't agreed to stay there because of Damian's temper.

Talia felt that the girl had changed something in Damian since her visit. He spent more time quietly, looking out the windows and bathing in the middle of the night. He started looking for magic books more often in the library and Talia could have sworn she saw him sigh a few times... She just hoped her son wouldn't fall in love with the dark-haired girl...

Things would get complicated if he fell in love with this girl

Damian had been betrothed before he was born, before he was even conceived.

Shortly after Talia was born, Ra’s Al Ghul and the Ducards made a big deal to strengthen their alliances and armies and in that deal, the first born Al Ghul male would marry a Ducard born female to seal that military deal. At the time, Ra’s Al Ghul had a son with a woman with skin as white as moonlight who appeared to him in the middle of the night. The boy was the son of a _Jinni_ and white as his mother and with the eyes of a snake.

Ra’s Al Ghul, Damian’s grandfather, couldn’t look at that child and when he killed his daughter _Nyssa_ , he expelled the boy from the kingdom without thinking about the consequences and what that could mean for the deal with the Ducards.  
The deal then extended to the new queen, Ra's A Ghul's daughter, Talia... Talia couldn't have children until the magical night when a witch appeared and gave her the gift of giving life to a child and for the joy from all over the kingdom and the Ducards, 9 months later a boy came into the world.

Talia hated that her son was destined to marry someone he hadn't chosen and started looking for loopholes in that deal. She had also been promised to the white wolf, the warrior named Slade Wilson, but she could not marry having given Bruce her heart nights before she knew.  
She tried to find a way to break the agreement with the Ducards, but while she couldn't find a way, she tried to make Damian fall in love with Maya ....  
She failed miserably ....

Damian saw the girl as an older sister, he had grown up having her as a best friend and didn't seem to have any interest in having her as his wife. She knew that Damian would obey like a dog if she told him to court Maya because they would have to get married, but she knew that in the boy's heart, Maya would never find a home. It was a terrible fate for both young hearts... Being destined to be each other's when they couldn't be. Damian would have children with a woman he didn't love, Maya would always be a queen who had a friend, but not true love. Talia would continue to think of a way to get both of them out of this deal, but she didn't have that much hope, not when he was so close to choosing a wife.

Talia decided to ignore that for now. There was a lot to celebrate and they didn't need a reason for a party, but there were two. Jason was alive and the queen's second baby was almost reaching the world. There was no reason not to celebrate and she didn't want to waste time thinking about a stupid deal that her father had made so many years ago. At the right time she knew that her son would make the right choice ... At the right time, she knew that Damian would use his heart, as she had taught him... 

Talia called Jason and told him to look for the witch who had healed him. If they were going to throw a party to celebrate that he was alive, they needed to celebrate the girl who had made it happen. He just needed to ask Roy Harper to take him to the girl's house and Talia knew that Roy would help Jason get into that forest without a second thought.

Jason, on the other hand, thought of a different company.

There was something about Damian since the girl had appeared in that palace and anyone who looked at him could tell. Jason was no different....

Damian just kept talking about the girl, how dangerous she looked when he was healing Jason, how her eyes got red and the runes on her body. Jason knew that Damian was dealing with feelings that he couldn't explain and one of those feelings was liking someone. Unlike Jason, Damian had grown up in those forts without contact with the outside world and practically isolated from normal social life. The only girl who approached him was the _Ducard's_ daughter, but Jason was sure that Damian saw Maya as more of a boy than a woman... Even though puberty had hit both young. And Jason knew that the first time Damian laid his green eyes on the woman with the milk skin and violet eyes, he fell in love... It was so plastered on his face that Jason could read it like a book. Damian couldn't get the girl out of his head and reacted the only way he knew how to: 

_Try to push her away from him_

Damian was afraid of feelings and was trying to push them away. Especially if he thought those feelings were for someone who shouldn't cultivate them, for someone he believed shouldn't have them... But it was too late, the witch had stolen Damian's mind and heart and there was no one else that I could get them back.

Damian was just too hardheaded to assume that, or too naive to notice those feelings.

Jason saw this as an opportunity to be a cupid for his younger brother... Maybe with a push he would finally choose that woman as his future wife, maybe he would stop being so angry with the world if he finally had someone to woo... Jason ( and probably the whole palace) knew about the prince's night baths and how nervous he woke up telling anyone to get out of his way when he was interrupted.

Jason had already gone through the dream phase, maybe a minute away from all the castle mess they could talk about stop being just a boy and liking a woman.

Of course, Damian initially protested and vehemently refused to go with him, but Talia ended up forcing him to not only accompany Jason but to formally apologize for his behavior towards the young witch. Jason had never seen Damian snort with such rage, he could almost see fire coming out of the boy's wind when they got on the horse and Jason wasn't quite sure that Damian would really apologize to the girl. He just hoped that the two wouldn't face each other on this visit or else, Jason's plans to make Damian stop being a stomach ache would go to the fifth hell.

The path through the forest was a complete silence, except for the times that Jason and Roy made stupid flirtations, Damian remained serious all the time and looking thoughtful and irritable.... Sometimes Jason wondered if Damian was even breathing. He looked like a statue on top of the horse. Jason sometimes wondered how old Damian really was... He looked like a kid throwing a tantrum when he did that.

\- "It's definitely not how I imagined..." - Jason grunted laughing when they arrived at the wooden hut, with small white windows and a small lavender garden next to the door - "I'm not sure what I really expected, but this is beyond what I expected..."

\- "That was exactly my reaction..." - Roy grunted getting off his horse - "She said she built everything herself using magic... It's... intriguing for a woman to build something on her own like this..."

\- "Besides being pretty and hot, she is also smart... Don't you think, little brother?"

\- "This is stupid..." - Damian growled angrily - "I don't have to apologize to her... I didn't do anything to have to apologize to her..."

\- "Stop acting like a spoiled child, Damian..." - Jason grunted rolling his eyes - "If mom thinks you should apologize for accusing her, then you need to ask..."

\- "Is she in the hut?" - Roy grunted looking through the small curtain in the window - "The house seems to be empty..."

\- "There's smoke coming from the chimney..." - Jason grimaced - "Are you sure we came in the right place?"

\- "Do you see another wooden hut surrounded by olive trees and after the clearing, Jaybird?"

\- "No... Of course not... But maybe she left..."

\- "A servant of my mother assured me that she still lives here..." - Damian grunted crossing his arms.

\- "Did you find out about her and where she lives, gremlim?"

\- "Don't be stupid, Of course I tried to find out who she was and if she was still living here..."

\- "And why did you seek to know about her?"

\- "Because I wanted to monitor if she would disappear after what happened at the palace..."

\- "Of course... And you never planned to come and see if she was here..."

\- "Yes...! I planned... But not for what you are thinking... I just wanted to make sure that my father had not given escape to a possible criminal..."

\- "Of course it was just for that Damian... Why are you so defensive? Nobody is saying that it was for another reason here... Unless it was for another reason..."

\- "I'm not defensive...!"

\- "It won't hurt to assume you were attracted to her, Dami..." - Jason grunted laughing - "She is pretty and mysterious and even under that cloak you can tell she has a fantastic body at least... It wouldn't be a crime you assume that she gives you erotic dreams and makes you go to bathe in the middle of the night..." - Jason shrugged - "It is perfectly normal to have these dreams..."

\- "What do you want? What dreams" - Her voice came from far away, coming from the opposite side of them. Damian held his breath and counted to 50, trying to control anything that started the moment his eyes met hers and the chill that ran down his spine. _Had she heard that crap Jason had said?_

 _Damn_...


	6. Chapter 5

_Damn..._

Damian felt a chill go through his spine as he confirmed her presence there, standing behind them with a curious look. If she had heard everything Jason had said, would she now be imagining that Damian dreamed of her? That wasn't good... It could induce ideas that he felt something for her and he didn't... 

He didn't want to feel...

Despite all those dreams he had, all the times he dreamed of having her dressed in green and gold in his arms and all the times he woke up panting and sweating and strangely frustrated that it was all a dream, he didn't want to feel anything for her...

This woman would be his death, he had to avoid her as much as he could.

 _"Ignore your most carnal feelings, Prince Damian..."_ his master swordsman said one day during a sword training session, when he was still a boy of no more than 11 years _"Carnal feelings lead you away from your true goal... A king moved by passion is not a good king, it's a mad king..."_

He turned slowly to where she was and Damian swallowed the cake of sensations that threatened to rise in his throat as he studied the image of her in front of him. She looked like a nymph mixed with an angel that disturbingly made him forget to breathe.

\- "Fuck..." - Jason finally mumbled under his breath, finally recovering from the initial shock.

\- "What do you want?" - She asked again, this time more imperative - "What dreams?"

Raven's hair was tied up in a very badly done bun, several strands of hair messed up over her shoulder framing her thin, rosy cheeks. She wore a white dress that left her looking light and ethereal, The sunlight was hitting the skin on her shoulders and reflecting like millions of diamonds, barely covered by a dark blue knit scarf.

She had the hem of her dress completely soaked and sticking to her leg. One hand holding a medium-sized basket of herbs and vegetables against her waist while the other hand was dirty with clay. Damian swallowed hard when he felt his eyes catch every inch of her skin that was exposed. The dress was made of a very thin fabric, probably cotton and one of the thin straps seemed too wide for her, falling at the elbow of the arm that held her basket. He knew it wasn't polite to be staring at someone as he was, but he couldn't look away, it was as if he was afraid of her disappearing if he blinked.

Raven swallowed whatever came in her mouth when she noticed Damian's gaze on her, pulling the dress strap and scarf over her shoulders and closing it against her chest, holding tightly with her free hand. Damian felt disconcerted, his cheeks getting hot quickly when he noticed her action. The idea that that dress wasn't a suitable garment to receive the visit of someone male for the first time crossing Damian's mind.

He wanted to apologize for staring too much, he wasn't being polite and he as a royal should have been better than that, but he just couldn't seem to formulate the words in his mind.

Damian didn't know that white cotton dresses could look so beautiful on someone.

And he honestly wasn't used to seeing women in those robes. Maybe they weren't suitable for the people she came from, but there, that dress would easily pass like a regular tunic on a daily basis.

Jason cleared his throat and smiled looking at the woman standing in front of them all that time. The tension in the exchange of glances between her and Damian had made him feel uneasy, it was as if they were debating that whole time if they were going to kiss or punch each other.

It was quite disturbing.

\- "Oh... We were looking for you little bird..." - Jason said smiling - "Dream? Oh... We were talking about silly man things... No... Don't worry about it... Beautiful day isn't it?"

\- "You are a complete fool, Todd..." - Damian declared rolling his eyes

\- "Majesties... Commander Harper..." - She bowed and Damian felt his heart want to leave his mouth. - "I'm... I'm sorry for my clothes... I went to enjoy the morning sun to pick some things... If you give me 5 minutes I can answer you..."

\- "hmm... It's fine with me... I don't see any problem with your clothes."

\- "It's a nightdress, Jaybird." - Roy muttered between his teeth, rolling his eyes

\- "Ah..." - Jason nodded slowly as if he finally understood. The deadly silence fell between the 4 again.

\- "Your clothes are wet..." - Damian devulged, almost without noticing - "How did you get wet here? In fact, how do you get water here?"

\- "Uhhh" - she grimaced, disconcerted by Damian's question - "There's a small lake not far from here, sir... I walk there every day to fetch water for myself. I take the opportunity to collect some things that I find on the way and so I avoid having to go to the city everyday... I happen to end up getting wet in the process." - She raised an eyebrow - "Am I committing any crime for bathing or accidentally getting wet in a lake?"

\- "Don't give me ironies."

\- "Damian... You didn't come here for this." - Jason rolled his eyes.

\- "Whatever... This is bullshit and I should have stayed in the palace." - Damian declared looking anywhere but at her.

\- "Hm..." - Roy looked at them and scratched his chin - "Defensive again?"

\- "If you can wait a minute I'll see you. I... I won't be long" - Raven announced, wiping her hand on the hem of her dress as she walked back towards the cabin door, holding the basket against her stomach to hold the scarf against her shoulders - "I don't usually receive patients this early in the morning." - She opened the door and looked at the three men who followed her - "I won't invite you in because it's not appropriate for a single girl to be alone with three men in her house... And because I need to change and well, my house doesn't have much privacy for me to do that with you all inside."

\- "Ah... Sure" - Jason smiled - "We'll wait for you outside." - She smiled and nodded, frowning when looking at Damian behind Jason and then, entering the hut and closing the door. Damian snorted and walked back to the horses, trying to find what to do with his own hands.

Horses were easier to deal with than women, horses didn't stir up strange feelings and thoughts that had never been there before.

Jason and Roy sat on a rock next to each other talking so softly that Damian couldn't hear, but he could be sure that they were talking about him. Damian was sure he heard Jason say something about _'not holding on to his pants'_ and the best thing he knew to do was just pretend that he didn't hear anything. Damian's sanity was grateful that he pretended not to hear Jason's comments most of the time.

It didn't take long for her to appear again, wearing a dark blue dress, with little splashes of silver on top that made her dress look like it was made of a piece of starry night. In the waists, there were small silver details that looked like claws. The whole bodice was attached only by thin blue strings on her back, with a very thin piece of fabric that connected the bodice to the transparent sleeves of the dress, which fell just below her shoulder, leaving her entire shoulder and bust exposed to the sunlight above them. Damian found himself wondering how she closed those ropes on her back alone and in such a short time or why she didn't buy simpler robes to wear at the city market. A dress like that, full of details, cufflinks, petticoats and ropes should be like an oven to her.

Again, Damian shook his head... It's not like he cares about her, anyway.

\- "What do you need from me? Did something happen? Any new attacks? Any news about the _Jinni_?"

\- "Hm? No. No... I... I mean we came at the queen's request... Especially my dear little brother, right, Dami?"

\- "Leave me out of it, Todd." - Damian insisted without leaving the horse, he didn't want to get close to her, he didn't want to smell her, he didn't want to be disturbed by the pink of her lips.

\- "Um... Did the Queen send you all over?" - Raven asked with a raised eyebrow, not understanding what the queen could want with her that was so special as to send a commander and lord and two princes after her.

She was absolutely fine during those days that she was away from Prince Damian's unmistakable and messy aura and now, his conflicted feelings were messing her up again.

He might look like a rock on the outside, but she knew he was feeling everything all at once on the inside. She was really good at finding out what people felt inside, even though there was a wall around their sentimental pools.

And Damian had many walls around his feelings, which shouldn't be a problem for her... But some of those feelings managed to overflow, invade and drown Raven from meters away.

Especially desire, lust and anger.

\- "Yes... Queen Talia. She liked you very much, witch." - Jason said smiling. - "There will be a big banquet to celebrate my health and the baby's health. The queen and the king demand your presence... As a thank you, since without you and your knowledge of magic you would now be mourning my death."

\- "Mm..."

\- "It's not only because of him." - Damian voiced - "My mother uses any excuse to throw a party, you know that..."

\- "It's because of me." - Jason smiled - "You're just jealous that this time the party is all for me and that your party ended with an assassination attempt."

\- "I dont care..."

\- "Mm... I'm sorry... I can't. I cannot attend this... this banquet."

\- "You can and you will... - Jason said smiling - "Royal orders."

\- "Excuse me Your Majesty but you can't make me attend a party."

\- "It is a royal event. The Queen's orders require you to attend so that we can formally thank you for your services rendered."

\- "I can't leave my house..."

\- "And why not?" - Damian remarked looking curious and head tilted to the side

\- "Because I don't want to, your royal highness."

\- "That's not the answer I want..."

\- "But it is the only one you'll have." - Raven said with a raised eyebrow - "I am not your maid and I told you that I am neither your prisoner nor your servant. I have a life here and things to do for other people. I also have things to study, especially about the attack on your brother... I cannot stop my duties just to attend a party that is not necessary, that I didn't ask for or even want to go to."

\- "On one thing I really need to agree with you..." - Damian noted rolling his eyes - "This is an unnecessary party."

\- "Raven, it's an official call... You need to go!" - Jason grumbled - "We even brought the guard." - He took a deep breath and put his hands together looking at Raven - "Please... It will be a party to celebrate life and to thank you, I want to thank you, the kingdom wants to thank you."

\- "But..." - Raven said timidly, seeming to finally break down the barriers of what she really meant

\- "But...?" 

\- "I don't want to go to a place where I know I'm not welcome, Prince Jason..." - Raven said firmly, looking at Damian - "As an empath, emotions influence me a lot. I don't want to be close to someone who hates me. It intoxicates me and affects me... And a lot." - She exhaled - "I can't feel this kind of thing infecting me, it disrupts my powers."

\- "Nobody hates you, princess... I owe you my life and I am grateful for you making me sexier than I already was." - he smiled and came close to her whispering - "I have noticed that my loves and all the suitors loved it, this white streak that was born with your little magic show... Don't you agree, Roy?"

\- "Shut up Jaybird."

\- "Your brother did me the favor of making it very clear the last time I saw him that he despised me." - Raven insisted - "I was never so humiliated and mistreated in one place. I was insulted and tied up by someone I didn't know."

\- "And I'm sorry about that, little bird... It was my fault and I couldn't do anything to keep you from going through these things" - Jason smiled - "But, is there anything we can do so that the kingdom and the crown can redeem themselves with you?"

\- "I said my freedom was the only thing necessary." - Raven said with a raised eyebrow, so she crossed her arms and looked at Damian, her gaze made him feel on fire, as if he were spontaneously burning from the inside out - "But... there is one thing... just one simple thing..."

\- "Then say it, Raven." - Jason said almost pleadingly

 _Pathetic..._ Damian thought. There was Jason pleading with a woman for a crumb of redemption. It was certainly what she wanted, to see the whole kingdom pleading for her as favors that she would collect when needed.

\- "I..." - She licked her bottom lip, a thin smile springing from the corner of her soft pink lips - "I would only put my feet in a place like this again after a legitimate apology from your brother, the prince, but... I know it won't happen." - She shrugged and winced, wrinkling her nose.

\- "That's why the crowned prince is here, isn't it, little brother?" - Jason smiled - "If there is an apology we can put a stone on top of it and start again, right?"

\- "I don't know" - Raven grimaced - "If it was genuine and not just because someone was forced to do it... Maybe I can consider going back to the palace."

\- "Surely my little brother is sorry for the rude way he treated you, milady. He has been talking about you almost 24 hours a day."

\- "Oh..."

\- "Shut up, Todd..." - Damian pinched the bridge of his nose - "I... I don't talk about anyone _all the time_."

\- "Well... You know what the orders were." - Jason stated with a playful smile on his lips - "Let's do this, let's start over all right? There was a mistake and we need to overcome this mistake." - He looked at them - "Damian, what did you have to talk to her about?"

\- "Don't treat me like a child, Jason." - Damian rolled his eyes, too angry to notice that he had called his brother by his first name.

\- "So don't act like a child." - Jason said with an amused smile and motioned for him to do what he had been forced to do.

Damian ground his teeth and took a deep breath, walking over to them with slow steps and studying what he really had to say to her. There was something about Raven that took him out of his place and made him uncomfortable. Something in her eyes that made him lose his breath and he couldn't even say why he missed it when she disappeared all those days.

It was strange, that he missed something he saw so little of...

\- "Hm..." - She uncrossed her arms - "What do you have to say, Your Majesty?"- "Mm..." - Damian took a deep breath and looked up at her, ignoring the thunder forming in his chest when his eyes met the beautiful amethysts in her eyes - "This is stupid." - He ground out and then shook his head - "Hm... Milady... I'm... I'm sorry for my... My inappropriate behavior." - Damian spat, not knowing how sincere he was being or if it was exactly what he wanted to say to her -"Please accept my sincere apologies and... accept the invitation to join us at the banquet at the palace."

There was a lot he wanted to say to her, actually...

He still distrusted her in part, but he knew he would get a scolding that he wasn't ready for if that witch didn't come back to the palace. But he also knew in his heart that it was right and that's why he had followed Talia's orders. He knew he had accused Raven based on the conflicting feelings she caused in him and it had almost cost Jason his life. He knew that to be fair he had to rely on evidence and not just suspicion.

He should have remembered his master's voice, he let himself be carried away by the feelings and passion of the moment... He acted like a mad king would act.

Raven rocked on her heels, the hem of her blue dress lightly sweeping dust off the floor below them, and then she looked up, placing both hands on her waist, looking determined.

\- "I don't feel sincerity in your words, majesty."

\- "What?"

\- "You're saying what it was you were told to say, not what you really feel..."

\- "Then why did you let me say all this?"

\- "I wanted to see how fake you were being in your words" - She shrugged - "But I have to say, your feelings can be quite conflicting."

\- "You can only be kidding me."

\- "I'm empathetic, I told you... I can feel it when you're lying and that's why I know that your excuse is not entirely sincere." - She crossed her arms again.

\- "And what do you want me to say? What do you want me to do? Beg your forgiveness? May I kneel down and apologize for accusing you of something at least suspect?"

\- "If you're sincere when you kneel, yes." 

\- "Well, sit and wait, witch... I don't kneel to anyone, especially you."

\- "Then you can tell your dear mother, the queen, that I will not attend the banquet and that I do not accept your excuses... Be well." - She proclaimed, turning her back and walking back into the hut, closing the door in the face of the 3 men who remained there, while Jason and Roy looked from the house to the prince and then home again, waiting for some reaction from him. Raven was leaning against the door, feeling her own heart beat fast against her chest like a bird struggling to escape its prison. She didn't know what it was, but it was the same sensation she felt whenever she thought of the prince in his palace for those two weeks.

Azar help her, she found herself thinking about him more than she should.

She was good at keeping the pose and hiding those sensations and feelings deep in her heart and although she didn't like large audiences or banquets, she felt she wanted to attend a party at least once. She had only heard of how happy and festive they were, but she hadn't experienced any of these parties. However she had her own pride and would only go if the prince was sincere with his apology. She had been humiliated too much that day, it was not a copied speech that would change her mind. Her own pride would kill her before she accepted that kind of thing.

Jason and Roy were murmuring something to Damian that she couldn't hear. Something about him having to do what he had to do and she thought about not paying any more attention to the men outside. She had things to do, herbs to dry, potions to create, soups to make. 

After just over 40 minutes, Raven could still hear murmurs outside her small hut, could feel Damian's characteristic electricity weighing in the air. She walked to the door and took a deep breath, her fingers too busy on the lavender branch in her hands. They were still there and didn't seem to understand or want to leave anytime soon. On tiptoes, she looked up at the little grimy glass door. She could feel the prince's irritation threatening to spill over, but she also felt that he was anxious, nervous about something and she didn't know what was right. 

\- "This is stupid..." - He grunted, exasperated - "How many times do I need to say it? You saw it, you were here as witnesses, it was she who didn't want to accept."

\- "Because you weren't being sincere, little brother." - Jason smiled - "Look, we will only leave here when she forgives you and agrees to go to the banquet, so you know what that means... Take off that angry face and ask sincere apologies to the girl, like the good and gentleman crowned prince you are." - Jason smiled, patting Damian on the shoulder.

\- "If I may say so, Your Majesty... You are in denial." - Damian prepared to protest, but Roy raised his hand - "You are in denial and you don't accept that you were wrong and that you acted wrongly... So just assume to yourself that you acted hastily, your majesty." - Roy proposed boredly - "When you take responsibility for yourself, you will be able to be honest with her."

\- "I have nothing to assume... This is stupid."

\- "So we will stay here until she stops being _stupid_." - Damian sighed and closed his eyes, how was he supposed to apologize sincerely if he didn't think he was totally wrong? She was there when the incident happened and it was magic, it's not like he had to believe what she said faithfully just because she said it.

He still had trouble believing in her innocence, especially after all the dreams and the things he felt. She could have bewitched him and he didn't even know it.

He couldn't let his guard down like that, he had trouble trusting other people and he knew it but it wasn't hard to believe his suspicions if they used logic. People also had to understand his point. She had to see his side as well as he also understood her acting defensive with him and the whole crown. It was a two-way street, both were wrong, the difference between the two was that she tried to explain herself, he acted without thinking and without hearing her explanation.

Damian licked his lower lip, let an exasperated breath come out of his nostrils and closed his eyes. That was exactly what he wanted to tell her, that was exactly what he was supposed to say to her...

He gritted his teeth and looked at the little hut, the little chimney giving off gray smoke since they got there. He knew Talia wanted her close because of the baby's birth and knew she would offer her to spend more time at the palace at least until the baby was born in the next few weeks. But he also knew she wouldn't accept that as long as she believed Damian wanted her dead. Part of him really felt it, part of him still suspected her intentions to show up at the palace that night, part of him was skeptical enough not to believe her listening to birds and all that mess. But the other part of him was thinking about seeing her every day, seeing beautiful violet eyes devouring books in the library or the scent of herbs and lavender running down the halls.

It would be torture that he was deeply tempted to want to feel.

There was no other way, he would have to try to convince her of his excuses or his mother would plant him on her doorstep until she forgave him. _He didn't want that_... Damian's mind started working on the pros and cons of giving in once in a lifetime. In the likelihood that she would spend more time in the palace visiting the queen, maybe he could take advantage of that and watch her longer, he could make his assumptions about whether or not she was reliable. Lose the battle, win the war...

This was what he had learned from his grandfather's war scriptures and this was what he applied to his life. Winning was always the goal, but sometimes, it was necessary to lose to have a tasty victory. He lost the battle by giving in to her now and won the war by discovering her real intentions with the palace and the royal family.

_**Bingo!** _

Anyway, it couldn't be that bad to have her around? After all, she was an interesting and very, _very_ attractive woman.

Damian was a complete mess about it and preferred not to think too much about it.

Raven sighed, still looking at the 3 men through the little grimy glass door, watching them discuss something with Damian that seemed adamant about her request and then, watching him roll his eyes and snort in defeat, seeming to weigh his points mentally.

There, away from the insults he had hurled at her all that time and stroking the white horse's mane, looking like the prince charming from the tales she read in the Azarath library as a child, Raven could even admit that he was beautiful. He had the skin of cinnamon and sunsets as she remembered in her dreams and green eyes like two emeralds. His hair, black and dark as a starless night or an onyx stone, was tied up high in a very poorly done ponytail, some tufts and strands falling loose almost as if intentionally, framing the sharp features of his chin and his jaw.

He was annoyingly handsome, looking like he was made to measure to make her heart beat differently in her chest. What he possessed in beauty was equal to what he possessed in being irritating and Raven still remembered all the arguments they had had while she was in the palace. The times when he tried to fight her or when she woke up and saw him at the bedroom door watching her and everything that came after that. That included all the waves of desire and lust that she felt coming towards her.

Gods, the monks hadn't taught her how to deal with that kind of situation and all she could do was look away so she wouldn't be tempted to look at him. He was a hot mess of feelings when he was distracted. What was different now, where he maintained a wall that Raven couldn't overcome?

The only thing she could feel was that he wasn't at all sorry to have accused her that night. Raven watched his shoulders become more relaxed as he walked towards the hut and then, he let out a heavy breath when his feet reached the door and a deathly silence ensued for seconds that seemed like an eternity to Raven.

Then, three light knocks on the wood of the door.

Raven, like a complete silly girl, just managed to move her shaking hands and legs away from the little glass window before he saw her there, spying on them... Why was she shaking?

\- "What do you want...?" - Raven asserted, not noticing when the words left her lips

\- "You heard us, witch." - His voice came out firm and somber on the other side, as if he was trying to find the right words that would convince not only Raven, but him too - "You heard what Todd said... We're not leaving until you accept my apologies." - He pulled in the air and let it out so slowly and Raven wondered if he was using his own breath to control himself. It was a technique of quick relaxation and meditation that the monks had taught her so that she could control her own powers and nature when things got out of hand.

_"Come on, Raven, It's mommy, here... You can do this, my baby girl... Just take a deep breath, hold your breath, count to 10, release your breath..."_

Raven closed her eyes almost instinctively, she could still hear her mother's voice in her head. Calming her in one of the many times when she felt the thin line of her personal control crack and threaten to break and every time that the thin line of Raven's control had actually broken as well.

 _Angela..._ She always helped Azar to calm Raven... And Raven didn't want to remember her now.

_Not now._

Raven shook her head away from past memories, her curiosity growing when she noticed that Damian was still breathing deeply, counting 10 seconds and exhaling heavily.

Oh... Did he know meditation techniques and was it still that rage pit?

_Intriguing..._

Raven licked her bottom lip and struggled for a few seconds before opening the door again and finding him with his arm resting on the doorframe as he looked bored at her.

\- "All I heard is that you're being forced to do something you didn't want to do." - Raven alleged, resting her hand on the knob - "So there's no reason you should insist on it again... I will not accept your request for forgiveness. As I said before they are not sincere."

\- "Yes, I am doing something that they are obliging me to do... I still suspect your intentions and still don't believe what you said about listening to birds. This is great bullshit to me" - Raven rolled her eyes and threatened to close the door again, only to be stopped by his hand. Raven opened her mouth to say something but no sound came out - "But... I should have given you a fair trial before I accused you or tried to kill you. That was unwise and a future king should know how to behave better in a situation like this ... And for that, I apologize sincerely, milady... It will not happen again." - Raven took a deep breath and looked at him for a few seconds, getting lost in the deep greens of his eyes.

Who was Raven trying to deceive? Of course, she would have forgiven him for that incident because she knew that if the situation were the opposite, she would have killed him in the first instant. Raven had been taught not to kill, that it made her more and more like her father but... She knew that sometimes her survival instinct activated her darker side.

She just didn't like the way he handled everything, and she didn't like having him insulting her all the time and she wanted him to be open and sincere with her as she always planned to be with him.

Raven swallowed when the images popped up that night and she had to tighten the hem of her dress. She knew she shouldn't have liked him putting a dagger against her neck or how he tied her tightly, but they were other conversations. She should focus on the anxious eyes in front of her, waiting for an answer that she was no longer able to assess whether they deserved to be sincere or not.

Raven thought a lot about his hands pinning her against the wall and it didn't help that he had invaded her personal space there at that door, she could smell the cinnamon and pepper and spices that she had smelled before.

She shook her head and gave the first answer her lips managed to find.

\- "Okay..."

\- "Okay...?" - Damian raised his eyebrow

\- "Yes..." - She crossed her arms - "Okay... I accept your apology." - she pressed her lips in a thin line, averting her eyes from his. Raven was feeling dizzy with him watching her that way.

\- "Do you accept my apology ?? Tsc..." - He smiled sideways and rolled his eyes - "I should be the one who accepts or not something here... I am the prince..." - Raven bit the inside of her cheek trying to prove to herself that it was real. He had smiled, a thin, shy smile, pulled only to the corner of his lips but still, it was a smile...

It was the first time he had smiled at her since he found her in the palace garden talking to that little robin in her hands.

\- "Oh for fuck's sake..." - Raven grumbled, turning her back as she pushed the memory of him smiling into the back of her mind - "Can you please come down from your cloud of superiority? Don't make me regret it that quickly... And please... Let go of my door and stop invading my personal space."

\- "Okay, okay.... Okay..." - Damian said in almost a whisper, loosening the door latch and crossing his arms over his chest, the muscles of his arm flexing with the action and Raven swallowed. He was doing something to her that she hadn't learned before and _oh mother of Azarath_ , she didn't know how to deal with it.

\- "So... Was that all you needed.?" - Raven asked tilting her head to the side to see Jason and Roy talking quietly near the trees, seeming not to pay attention to Raven and Damian at all. They were holding hands and very close to each other, trapped in their little universe of romance.

Raven felt a strange mix of feelings when she saw the scene, why did she feel that she wanted what they had? She never cared about that before. She never cared about first love or first kiss or having someone to love and spend life with, but why did seeing Jason and Roy at a distance make her want that?

She sighed and closed her eyes, shaking those stupid thoughts away, only to find Damian's eyes still watching her in the same place. He took exhaled and licked his bottom lip before reluctantly averting his eyes from hers and taking a step back. He seemed to want to do something but he gave up at the last second before he regretted it.

\- "I'll... I'll call Todd." - Damian sighed closing his eyes - "We... We didn't come this far so he could date the guard commander."

\- "Leave them alone." - Raven said with a smile playing in the corner of her face as she watched the couple exchanging caresses not far from them, leaning against a tree - "I think they don't have much time for that when they are in the palace fulfilling their royal duties, right?"

\- "We are fulfilling royal duties, witch... It is not a fun walk in the forest. It is a royal duty that we came to do"

\- "Stop calling me a witch " Raven rolled her eyes and entered the hut again, leaving the door open this time. Damian watched the interior of the hut as she went to prepare a tray of four tin cups with a yellowish drink that she took from a small bottle - "You know my name. You don't have to use that insulting tone with me."

\- "I... I think we better leave things as they are."

\- "And how are things? - Raven looked at him again, her hands on her hips and a sparkle of curiosity in her eyes.

\- "We are two strangers. I don't know anything about you and you don't know anything about me... And I think it's better that way..."

\- "Why?" - she asked.

\- "Because I don't trust you and you probably don't trust me." - Damian snorted, his jaw clenching with the look she gave him, he didn't want to have to explain to her why he thought it best that they were like strangers. He didn't want to assume that there was something about her that attracted him as if she were a magnet that he couldn't escape or avoid.

_It was embarrassing._

\- And that doesn't mean you necessarily have to keep calling me a 'witch' as if my magical condition was like a curse, something I should be ashamed of." - She rolled her eyes - "I have a name. Just like you have a name. You can call me Raven. It won't change anything between us." - She shrugged - "I will not be calling you _'prince'_ , forget it."

\- "Hm... Alright." - He grimaced, not understanding the buzz that was happening inside his chest as he watched her walk around the small hut, picking up things to put on a small dark wooden tray. Damian wondered how old she was, she didn't seem to be that much older than him, but still, she lived alone in the middle of nowhere - "How old are you?" - Damian asked, not noticing when the words left his mind and formed on his lips.

\- "What?" - she stopped what she was doing and looked at him with a funny smile on her face - "It's not polite to ask the age of a young lady, Your Majesty."

\- "Mm. I'm... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend, it's just a curiosity. You seem to live alone and..."

\- "17" - She said smiling, interrupting any excuse he was planning to say while holding the tray - "I'm 17... I'll be 18 in a few moons."

\- "And you live alone here?"

\- "Yes." - She grimaced - "It's no big deal and I really prefer it that way. Except for the monks who taught me and Grand Master Azar, I lived alone for all these years."

\- "Ah..." - Damian thought mentally about what she said. Was she raised by the same woman who helped his mother get pregnant? Or was Azar like a title passed down from generation to generation just like the title of _'Ra's Al Ghul'_ that he would receive when he was crowned? And where were her parents? And... monks? Was she educated by monks?

There were so many questions and no answers

\- "Do you accept a drink, Your Majesty?" - She said bringing him back from his thoughts, no more than a step away from him, offering one of the glasses deposited on top of the wooden tray in her hands as if a peace offering. With a smile that lit up all the paths in Damian's chest.

\- "What is it?" - Damian asked, taking the glass and sniffing the contents.

\- "Mead." - She shrugged - "I learned many things before settling in that kingdom while looking for the city hidden behind the rocks, Damian. And one of them was this nectar of the gods. The Greeks, Celts, Saxons and Romans consume it a lot."

\- "I... I don't think it's a good idea for all of us to consume alcohol before going to the palace."

\- "Ah... It's not as strong as you think, it's just a distilled honey and water drink. And don't get carried away, I'm just serving a courtesy to you as a good hostess. You won't drink a whole bottle of this." - She grumbled - "And hey... I didn't say I was going to a banquet."

\- "You said you would only go if you had a genuine apology."

\- "I said I would only step back into the palace if I had a genuine apology."

\- "This is a situation for which you need to step into the palace. Not to my liking, let it be clear." - He pointed his index finger at her - "I didn't insist on this banquet and not even your presence... I am only following my parents' orders."

\- "Ah... For sure." - Raven murmured before walking past him at the door walking outside towards Jason and Roy, trying to kill the strange feeling of embarrassment that grew inside her when she saw that the two were now kissing while leaning against the tree - "Majesty, commander... I'm sorry to bother you, but do you agree to drink something?"

\- "Oh! What is it?"

\- "Mead" - Raven and Damian said together. The two looked at each other and both rolled their eyes at the same moment, getting a giggle from Jason.

\- "Well... I see you guys understand." - Jason looked at Roy and smiled taking the glass while winking at Damian - "Good... So we can all go to the palace now."

\- "I... I can't go, Prince Jason." - Raven swayed on her heels, hugging the tray -" I... I don't think it's necessary for me to attend an official banquet at the palace."

\- "You are a few months here, you need to understand that it is never _not necessary_ for a queen's banquet." - He laughed - "Damn... I don't think I ever drank something like that."

\- "I got it from a kind friend who helped me heal from a war wound when I was in Athena." - Raven made a half bow - "He had a curse on his body, coming from a stone not from this planet. He thought that at least a bottle of gods' nectar, ambrosia, some gold coins and a map could be a fair payment since I didn't accept staying at his house as part of his family."

\- "You should sell this... It's interestingly good and deliciously sweet."

\- "And we shouldn't be drinking alcohol when we should be on the way to the palace." - Damian said behind her, his voice in a tone of annoyance.

\- "Don't be such a pain in the ass, little brother but... Hey!" - Jason nodded - "This takes us to another point in our conversation. Not only should you go, you must go to the palace, birdie... Your presence is indispensable."

\- "Hm... I appreciate it but... Why is it so necessary for you that I go to a stupid banquet?"

\- "Well... You heard Todd." - Damian affirmed before turning the entire contents of the glass in his mouth. It wasn't bad, Damian had already drunk worse things in those years, but he definitely hated drinking alcohol like that. His mind always ended up getting muddy and he didn't like the feeling of numbness that alcohol caused in his body - "It's an order from the queen. You need to go." - Raven took a deep breath, the air exasperated in her nostrils as she tried to find a way out of it.

She wanted to go back to the palace, her books had so little information about the _Jinni_ , that they were almost leaving her tempted to contact her father, which would be a bad idea. But she didn't want this return to be at a banquet full of wealthy people and probably better dressed than her. She would return to the palace with great pleasure to enjoy the possible knowledge that was in their library or even perhaps for another party that wasn't this banquet.

Gods she didn't even have a suitable dress for that... 

All her dresses were stuffed in a closet and were too heavy to wear there. Raven had decided that she would buy more local clothes. Perhaps some fabrics to sew for herself when she had to ride a horse with her arms tied, but she felt no desire to go out to the city in those two weeks after what happened with the bastard prince.

Her heart always spun in her chest just thinking about ending up bumping into beautiful emeralds in the shape of eyes.

Suddenly, an idea lamp appeared in Raven's mind.

\- "Hm... Okay... Alright ... I'll go.

\- "Great... So let's go now and we can arrive before lunch."

\- "Umm... I need to go to the market to find some clothes suitable for the situation so... I'll see you at the banquet." - She said with a smile on her lips, already spinning on her heels as she slowly walked back to the hut.

They wouldn't be able to drag her to the palace if she needed to go to the market to buy clothes and they would certainly not take her to the market. She would escape this situation calmly, no one could force her to go to something when she didn't have suitable clothes to attend.

And of course, she came to that conclusion too soon.

\- "What? No... Of course not. You come with us. Surely the queen will love to get you a suitable outfit."

\- "Is she going with us?" - Damian complained, wrinkling his nose.

\- "Am I going with you?" - Raven said frowning.

\- "Of course." - Jason raised his eyebrows - "It was mom's orders, little shit. We would have to go back with her, or we wouldn't go back at all."

\- "And how do you intend to take her? You didn't bring any more horses!"

\- "I think I said we should take her but then I didn't really think you would apologize to her."

\- "No! You didn't tell me that you thought she should go with us."

\- "Well, do we need to draw a picture for you next time?"

\- "No, but I thought it was just a figure of speech." - Damian had his eyebrows raised, looking at the 3 horses standing near the grazing trees - "So then, what is your plan to bring her with us??"

\- "Well... She can go with you on your horse." - Jason suggested, while shrugging and Damian opened his mouth, trying to formulate something but nothing coming into his mind.

The thought of Raven on a horse next to him, his hands around her waist as he felt her perfume impregnate his clothes crossed through his mind and sent a shiver down his spine. The same thought of her on a horse with Roy made him want to throw up.

\- "No... Absolutely not." - Damian murmured firmly, pushing that thought away from his mind.

\- "Why do I have to go with you...?"

\- "I don't know, Mom didn't specify why. She just demanded that we take you back and that the little shit apologize to you for what happened."

\- "So why didn't you bring an extra horse?"

\- "I don't know, okay?" - Jason said with his arms up - "I didn't think straight... And also, like I said, I didn't believe Damian would really apologize." - He wasn't lying, just using a secondary reason to mask his true intentions.

He didn't believe that Damian would give in and didn't believe that she would forgive him. And ended up being totally wrong on both accounts.

\- "God I hate riding a horse" - Raven grumbled rolling her eyes - "And wait, I didn't say I will go with you!"

\- "You literally said you were going like, 5 seconds ago..." - Jason replied, making Raven run out of answers. Okay, she had no contact with the variables in her own plan and now she was trapped in something she didn't want to do.

\- "Well... She can go with me." - Roy said, crossing his arms.

\- "Absolutely not!" - Jason and Damian asserted instantly.

\- "You know that I am not a commodity that you have to decide who will take it or not, right?" - Raven growled.

\- "Look... Damian you take her and that's it." - Jason finalized. - "It won't be well received for a single father to be seen walking around with her. You know how the rumors grow."

\- "Then she can go with you." - Roy pointed at Jason - "Jason who should have brought the extra horse and didn't..."

\- "Good god, absolutely not that either." - Damian growled between his teeth, his bile threatening to rise up his throat just to imagine Jason's arms around Raven on top of a horse. How Jason could inhale the lavender scent that came from her and feel the softness of her hair against him. Damian didn't know why he felt that... He didn't even know what that feeling was.

The only thing he knew was that he didn't like to feel that bitterness in his mouth just to imagine another man so close to her. He hated that feeling of possession that took him over.

They debated for another half hour over who would take Raven and how to get to the palace as quickly as possible. Raven felt as if she were an annoying nuisance that they were deciding who was going to be responsible for carrying her and she wasn't comfortable with that. She didn't like to see them tossing her over and over like that... Azar, she was a person, not an object.

Jason, on the other hand, wasn't willing to give up his mischievous goals.

He wanted Damian to notice that being attracted to a girl wasn't the end of the world and it wouldn't hurt to spend some quality time with one. Especially with a girl as alluring as that witch. Jason would even spend quality time with her if she weren't that young. Everyone said there was no problem, younger girls were good for having a lot of children but Jason still felt... At least weird.

That girl was the age of his brother... It was weird.

Besides, his brother was more than interested in her. It was not right to court someone of interest to a man in his own family.

Jason just wanted Damian to spend some time with her. A ride back to the palace on a horse, feeling her against his body, her perfume under his nose, all that might make him realize why she woke him up during the night.

But Damian was a hardhead and Roy apparently didn't understand the plan.

Raven took the tray and glasses and went back inside the hut, picking up a small bag with some things she thought she would need while they argued about the horses. She took her time packing up the small bundle of books and an old dress she had kept, putting out the fire and the lamps, only to find them still arguing fervently about taking Raven to the palace. Jason insisted that it should be Damian who took her as if to show his mother that the white flag between the two young ones had been hoisted but Damian didn't accept his brother's argument. He also didn't accept that either of the other two took her and either, but he didn't present any solution or explanation for such denial.

Raven could feel the anger crackling between them and she could feel her own irritation crackling around her, small grains of dust started spiraling with the energy that was beginning to flow through her veins.

She wasn't an object, a burden that they would throw from side to side.

While they were still arguing, Raven rolled her eyes and put the small bag she carried on her back and slammed the hut door with unnecessary force, muttering a spell to lock it, and passed them by stamping her feet against the floor while she walked a few feet away from them.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, and when she opened them, what were once 2 beautiful amethysts were now red as if they had flames behind them. Flames like hell that invited them to burn. Jason, Roy and Damian watched any discussion die on their lips as they watched Raven turn to them with those bright red eyes.

Gods, what was she really?

\- "Will you keep arguing?"


	7. Chapter 6

\- _"Will you keep arguing?"_

They couldn't speak... No, anything had died on their lips the moment she looked at them and they were only able to utter disconnected and meaningless sounds.

They were hypnotized by her.

How could she be so beautiful and yet deadly macabre and dangerous at the same time?

\- "Hey... Can't you hear me? Will you keep arguing?" - for the second time she murmured, in that tone of voice that indicated danger and made all the hair on their arms stand on end while sending shivers running down their spines. Roy and Jason didn't know where their voices had stopped, it was the first time they saw her that way and they couldn't say whether they thought it was beautiful or if they were terrified. She looked different, more powerful and fearsome than she normally was when she only had those bored, violet eyes.

Damian, on the other hand, looked mesmerized, barely blinked and couldn't even hide his admiration. She had the same runes as when she healed Jason, on that dawn 2 weeks ago. But now he could see them go up the length of her arms in a pattern, focusing on her chest and ending at her neck, like bright, shiny tattoos. Some had a symbol similar to the red gem she had on her forehead, between her eyebrows, others looked like an 'S' and others, a design he didn't recognize. Damian would keep those runes in his mind to research what they were and especially what they meant.

\- "Can someone please tell me that it's not just me who is watching a sweet and cute little witch transform into a badass woman?" - Jason uttered without taking his eyes off her. Raven made a movement with her head that could almost mean a roll of the eyes. Then she made a quick movement with her hands, looking like a dance that coordinated with the movement of her feet and then a purple vortex appeared in front of them, the image of the palace garden rippling on the other side like the reflection in a water fountain - "Please, someone pinch me..."

\- "We don't need another horse." - She said calmly, tilting her head to the side - "I think I can take all of us and your horses through here."

\- "Can you teleport?" - Jason said without believing, a mischievous smile growing on his lips

\- "Mmm... Yes...?"

\- "So you can go anywhere in the world as if you were walking through a door?"

\- "Mmm... More or less." - She wrinkled her nose - "It's tiring and I need to keep in mind exactly where I want to go. Teleporting more than one person can take a lot of my magic."

\- "Fantastic!" - Jason said excitedly, like a child - "I love this witch." - Jason said laughing and walking towards his horse, taking the rein in his fingers only to be interrupted by Damian - "What?"

\- "Shall we just trust what she's saying and get into whatever she shows us?"

\- "Yes? You're not going?"

\- "I think we should discuss this better..."

\- "You already discussed too much." - Raven said putting her hands on her waist, her voice making a red alert light up in his mind and Damian could see that her teeth were slightly fanged. She was starting to get angry and it didn't seem like a good thing. - "I am not a burden that you have to discuss who has less weight on the mule to take me. The palace is on the other side, pass and you will come directly to your gardens."

\- "Stop being stupid, Damian. Anyone who sees you so defensive like that doesn't even know that you haven't stopped talking about what she could do in the last two weeks!

\- "I did not!"

\- "You did! By all the gods, I couldn't take it anymore to hear you say about the tattoos she had or about her eyes. Just get in the damn vortex and stop being a pain in the ass!" - Jason growled almost irritated. - "And for the love of the gods above us, make a move before your pants explode... It's annoying!" - Jason rolled his eyes pointing the finger at Damian and then started walking towards the portal again, forcing the stubborn horse to follow him. It took about 15 minutes for Jason to tame the animal so that it approached the witch and her distinctive purple portal.

 _Animals sense the things of the supernatural_ , Raven remembered, the horse knew she was not just a witch. He sensed the danger that she could be, the deadly weapon that she could become with just a snap.

Jason stepped through the portal with a huge smile on his lips, as if discovering a new world, followed closely behind by Roy and his caramel-colored horse. Raven waited for Damian, but he was still in the same place, arms crossed over his chest and a small crease between his two eyebrows. Greenish eyes looking unimpressed at Jason and Roy and two horses being swallowed by a thin purple layer.

\- "Majesty...?" - Raven said signaling to the vortex.

\- "I won't go into that." - He swayed at his feet - "I apologized to you for my behavior that night, witch... It doesn't mean that I blindly trust what you propose." - He rolled his eyes - "Besides... I have a horse."

\- "I remember the king not allowing your majesty to walk around alone." - She snapped her fingers and the vortex disappeared with a low pop. If they were in a noisy place like the city market, they would hardly have heard but there, in the silence of the forest where only the sound of the rustle of trees or birds flying in the sky was heard, it was as audible as a snap of fingers - "And I'm not asking for your trust... I just made it easy"

\- "I don't need you to take care of me, witch."

\- "I'm not taking care of you, I don't know where you got that from." - She shrugged - "And I already told you not to call me a witch. There's not the slightest need for it."

\- "You keep calling me majesty." - Damian shook his head and walked slowly towards her. He could see the small tattoos disappear one by one from her arms and bust, her eyes slowly losing the reddish hue of fire and gaining the old amethyst hue.

\- "Just formality." - She moved her hands as if it was nothing, closing her eyes - "I'm not from this earth, but I learned how to treat people in a position above me."

\- "Mmm..." - Damian pressed his lips in a thin line, his jaw tightening as he felt the scent of lavender invade his senses.

\- "So I'm above you?" - He said, his voice becoming a half whisper. He didn't know how or why, but hearing that made him feel odd.

As if he needed to hear her say that.

As if he needed to feel her lips against his when she said that...

Damian felt _hungry_... Raven's pink lips looked like his favorite taste.

\- "You are the prince." - She said with a shrug, her amethyst eyes looking at him from under those long, thick lashes. Damian felt his whole body ache, as if he were burning alive.

He never felt that, for any other woman... For _anyone_. The answer to all those dreams seemed to be there, in her. And Damian couldn't control it, the attraction he felt coming from her pulled at him like that night when she healed Jason. He felt he needed to touch her.

Damian tried to put his mind in place, tried to command his feet to move away from her but it seemed painful to do so.

\- "...And...?"

\- "You are part of royalty... You are the future king. You are above me for this... But..."

\- "But...?" - Damian swallowed, closing the space so that they were no more than 30 centimeters away. Damian's hands tingled and itched and he found himself wanting to hold her.

\- "I don't see it like that." - Raven said in a firm tone - "As I said, only formalities. You're just an ordinary boy with more money and power than the other boys in town... It's not a big deal." - She shrugged - "But anyway...That's not what I'm talking about." - She sighed - "I'm not asking you to trust me... But I can't wait all day for your desire and I also believe that the king wouldn't be really happy to know that we left you alone in the forest with this attack that you suffered."

\- "I will not use your magic, Raven." - He said looking a little irritated, no more than 30 centimeters away from her and Raven could not prevent the heartbeat from accelerating when hearing her name on his lips.

That was... That was weird.

Raven had never felt that before, but the way the sound of the letters played on his tongue, how the _R_ came out more heavy than was normally said and how his almost imperceptible accent gave color, shape and warmth to the words and the shape as he said through his teeth, it made her feel dizzy.

Had he said it in a normal tone or was it just a whisper? Raven couldn't say. He was too close to her, she could smell the soap he used and the spices, cinnamon and pepper coming from him.

Could anyone else have those smells?

Raven swallowed and held the skirt of her dress tightly, trying to have something to hold her in that reality. Was it her impression or was it suddenly a very hot day? Gods she needed new clothes.

Surely those petticoats were making her feel that warmth creeping up her thighs. Why did she feel so _thirsty_? And why did his lips, no more than a few 20 centimeters now, seemed to be the most refreshing source of water she would find there.

The heat intensified beneath her navel and she had to close her mouth to suppress a sigh.

Raven shook her head with her eyes closed as she pushed back all those thoughts that went through her mind, discreetly brushing the hair from the back of her neck so that the breeze took away the heat she felt, while pushing what Jason had said about Damian away, she didn't need that.

He was still there when she opened her eyes, his eyes locked on hers, his mouth a few millimeters open and his hands closed in fists, as if he were debating what he should do. She felt cornered, like prey without knowing where to escape from her predator and before he finished the movement he had started, (his body had started to lean slightly towards her, his lips were half open and his eyes were half closed)Raven scratched her throat and stepped out of his way, crossing her arms avoiding his inquisitive gaze and walking towards the only remaining horse. She didn't know what power of attraction it was that she felt coming from him, but she needed to avoid it. It wasn't something normal or that she was allowed to feel.

She wondered if he was going to kiss her and where it was coming from...

\- "So... What do you suggest, Damian?” - She said without looking at him, hands reaching for the horse's soft white mane, fingers sliding to calm the animal before he felt threatened by her presence.

Trying to calm herself from Damian's presence so close to her.

He looked at her for a few seconds, distant again, and then he scratched his throat and straightened up, running his hand through the slightly messy hair of the bun. Damian for a second turned off his reason, he was tamed by the desire and promises that her lips seemed to have. He found himself actually leaning towards her to capture each of her kisses.

He didn't even know if that was how he was supposed to do it, but he just let himself be guided.

And she ran away even before the action took place and Damian, regaining reason, mentally thanked her for having her neurons and brain working. They didn't like each other, they didn't have any intimacy and he definitely shouldn't want to kiss her.

Damian let that echo in his mind as he pushed that hot sensation deep into his body. Returning to the stoic and bored look.

\- “I will ride my horse, I don't need your magical effects to walk.”

\- “I will not allow you to walk in the forest alone.” - She tilted her head towards him - “If something happens to you, guilt will fall on my shoulders again.”

\- “I don't need a nanny!”

\- “I am not your nanny.” - She said with a playful smile on her lips - “And may Azar forbid me from the burden of babysitting such a tough-headed boy!”

\- “Tch…” - Damian rolled his eyes.

\- “So…” - She smiled, placing both hands on her waist - “Will you enter the vortex or will we walk to the palace?”

\- “I already said I won't use your magic.” - He grunted walking with heavy steps to her, his hands quickly fiddling with the horse's straps - “It's a very long walk to the palace. It would take almost all afternoon.” - He took a deep breath - “If you insist so much, I will have to take you on my horse.”

\- “So... You did all this just so you could take me on your horse? You could have told your brother if you wanted that.”

\- “No!” - Damian looked at her, his eyes shocked as if she had said the most absurd thing. - “I didn't propose that we go together! That was your doing!” - Damian's eyes were almost on fire, his eyebrows furious - “You who just said that you would go with me, that you didn't want the blame of something falling on your shoulders. Maybe it's you who wants to go with me anyway.”

\- “Hey... I’m sorry.” - Raven laughed. The sound of her laughter filling the space and making Damian itch in his chest - “It’s just a joke, okay?”

\- “If you knew who I am, you wouldn't joke.”

\- “Whatever.” - Raven rolled her eyes still smiling

\- “Why don't you turn into a bird again and just go?”

\- “Because I already said I will not take the blame if someone attacks you.” - She put her hands on her waist - “My company is not as bad as it seems to be, I promise.”

\- “I'm not thinking about it.” - He put the saddle back on top of the horse, it was perfectly neat, he just needed something to keep his control, he almost missed it when he thought about kissing her. Was he really going to kiss her? - “I'm not even looking for your company.”

\- “Interesting.... I had the slightest feeling that you wanted much more than just my company minutes ago.” - She spoke looking at a point above Damian's head, looking thoughtful.

\- “No, I don't... I didn't want ... I don't want anything _from_ you... Not even _with_ you.” - He took a deep breath still focused on fixing the horse's harness. There was nothing to fix, again he just needed something to help him stay focused. Why did Jason have to leave him alone with that witch in the middle of nowhere? She was bewitching him, he was sure of it. - “Look, can we just go to the palace since you insist on wanting to be a nanny?”

\- “I don't want to be your nanny, young prince.” - She smiled, biting her lower lip slightly - “You are too old to have a nanny.”

\- “Mmm... Whatever.” - He turned to her and did his best to ignore the sensation that rose in his throat when looking at her again. He was still mentally recovering from the damage that being so close to her had caused him, but he could control himself. He had learned his entire damn 17 years to control himself. He couldn't just get carried away by feelings and sensations like that.

 _'A king driven by desire is a mad king._ ' Damian thought of it as a mantra, forcing his own heart to stop hammering in pain against his chest.

\- "You really are a sentimental mess." Raven said, her nose wrinkled as if there was something stinking next to her.

\- “I'm not a sentimental mess. You who seem to have the power to bring out the worst in me.”

\- “It's reciprocal.” - She smiled

\- “Great... So can you please get on that horse?” - Damian said, pinching the bridge of his nose - “I don't want Todd to spread bullshit all over the kingdom if we take too long to return.”

Raven looked at him for a few seconds and then sighed and held out her hand for Damian to help her. It wasn't easy to get on that animal wearing that dress, not even comfortable.

She could levitate but she was sure the little prince would have another nervous breakdown because of her magic.

She thought it was funny, but she didn't have time for that.

Damian finally stopped fiddling with the horse's harness and returned to her, completely ignoring her outstretched hand and his two hands went directly to Raven's waist, lifting her up in the air so she could sit on the horse's back, legs hanging to the sides. Raven blew out a surprised breath when his hands found her waist and held tightly.

\- “This is the most uncomfortable way to travel.” - She grumbled making a face, placing the small bundle that she carried on her lap while Damian sat behind her. He ignored all the warning signs in his body when he wrapped his arms around her waist and held the reins, controlling the urge to let his head fit her bare shoulder. Her skin looked softer than it should have been, as if it had been made of cotton and fluffy clouds.

\- “Get a more comfortable dress.” - Damian replied, his voice without emotion. He pushed down the heat that rose in his heart when he climbed on the horse and felt her body against his chest, the smell of lavender coming from her hair making him intoxicated - “It wouldn't be uncomfortable if you didn't use body ties.”

\- “It's a corset.” - She corrected - “Outside these stone walls it’s the latest fashion among respectable ladies.”

\- “The world outside these stone walls is a mess.”

\- “Yeah…” - Raven smiled - “Can you believe that in some places I would be condemned to the fire?”

-"I can't judge them." Damian said as he pulled the horse's reins, guiding them through the forest towards the city.

\- “And I also cannot judge Jinni who is trying to kill you.”

\- “Hmmm… Whatever.” - Damian mumbled, not wanting to prolong the conversation with her. It was strange, she really did bring the worst out of him and they knew each other so little. He didn't want to have to apologize to her every time so he thought it best to be completely silent during his return to the palace.

He had a lot to think about and he started focus on his own daydreams while she was there so close to him. The skin on her back brushing his chest lightly with the horse's movement, his arms around her waist.

It was all too much, Damian needed to focus so that his body wouldn’t react to the movement of her body against his.

_Damn horse ride._

After a while of traveling (she finally seemed to understand that it was best that they be quiet), Damian sighed bored. He didn't remember this one-way trip ever taking so long and he was already starting to feel mentally tired from having to control himself next to her. The smell of lavender would be impregnated in his clothes and he would feel the ghost of her body against his for the rest of his miserable life. He was cursed and now he regretted not having entered the damn portal that she opened for him.

He would have worse dreams, he knew that for sure.

\- “Look…” - Raven said finally, breaking the silence that settled between them. The vegetation started to make room for the small town and the sun was shining overhead and Damian didn't know if he was hot because of the sun or because of Raven. He was still thirsty, but he knew it wasn't exactly for water. Raven looked over her shoulder at him, seeming to try to see what Damian's reaction would be, but looking back soon afterwards. - “I already understand that you don't like me and honestly with your irritable and unpalatable personality I also don't like you... But…” - She bit her lip, seeming to think what she really meant. - “Do you really need to treat me like I'm a worm in your shoe?”

\- “I don't treat you like a worm”

\- “Yes, you do.” - Raven huffed out an annoyed breath. - “As if I were a parasite that you feel the need to despise, hate and ignore completely.”

\- “I told you that I don't trust you.” - Damian looked at her for a few seconds over her shoulder, he seemed to be choosing the right words to say - “And that it probably wouldn't change anything between the two of us.”

\- “And I don't want you to change. I don't want you to be kind to me just because your mom made you, but that doesn't mean you have to be like that. It doesn't mean you have to be a rude damned bastard to me. I didn't do you any harm to earn that.”

\- “So...?” - Damian raised an eyebrow - “Do you expect me to simply change willingly towards you?”

\- “I just hope you treat me like a person, Damian.” - Raven sighed exasperated and put her pale hand on top of his, her hands were hot as hell and Damian suppressed a sigh. He expected her hands to be as cold as winter nights, not as warm as the sun above them. - “And that’s why I have a deal to offer you.”

\- “An deal?”

\- “Yes” - She removed her hand from Damian's and returned to hold the horse's mane and Damian felt an emptiness where before her hand was - “A deal.”

\- “Well, tell me.” - He shrugged, trying to look as stoic as he really wanted to look, he wouldn't let her know the volcano of emotions that flowed inside him. - “I won't guarantee that I will accept this deal but... I can hear it.”

\- “White flag.” - She said firmly - “My deal is that we raise a white flag in whatever is the line between us.”

\- “Do you want a peace agreement?”

\- "Your father won't want you to get involved in looking for Jinni and whatever is behind it." - Raven said calmly, her violet eyes lost in the way ahead. Damian watched her, trying to ignore the looks of people who bowed as they passed. They would talk, the whole city would talk.

But he was the prince. He could care less about what people would say about him.

\- “How do you know that?”

\- “Your family is overprotective.” - Raven shrugged - “And clearly you are the target for being the natural successor.”

\- “Well... Following your line of reasoning, my mother still has a baby who can take the throne. She is expecting that the baby will arrive in the coming weeks.”

\- “Killing a newborn is easier than killing an adult.” - Raven said with a raised eyebrow - “The human who is in control probably has a plan and tried to get rid of you initially by thinking just like that.”

\- “And you think it is absurd for me to think that you would have part in all this shit.”

\- “I am using logic. You as a prince well versed in wars should think with logic.” - She shrugged - “Why would they initially attack you with the king and queen at their disposal while you were not here?”

Damian bit the inside of his mouth, not really wanting to answer her, thinking that she might be right. They tried to get him out of the game because the only heir left would be a helpless baby.

His parents wouldn’t live long enough on the throne to see the baby reach adulthood to reign and attacking a kingdom weakened by the death of a regent was easier. Luck was on his side at that moment.

Damian couldn't say the same about Jason.

\- “So? I still don't understand what this has to do with the whole peace agreement you are proposing.”

\- “Well, as I was saying before your majesty interrupted me…” - Raven fidgeted on top of the horse and Damian swallowed a sigh. She was practically sitting on his lap and moving like a worm on the hook. If she didn't stop, it would mean problems that he had been trying to control since the time he almost kissed her. - “Your father, the king, will not allow you to get involved in this research on who tried to kill you to try to protect you. If you are the target, he will not want to expose you directly on the front line.”

\- “Mmm…”

\- “We can work together.”

\- “Work together?” - Damian raised his eyebrows with almost a laugh.

Did she want to work with _him_?

\- "Yes."

\- “And what makes you believe that I will accept this?”

\- “You want revenge and you want to protect your family” - Raven said shrugging - “You know you won't get any of this if you don't go with me. You’re just a human and this being is more powerful than you can imagine. It will make you suffer with a snap of its fingers.” - She waited for him to rebut her argument but he remained silent and Raven understood this as a confirmation of what she was saying - “I'm not saying to be best friends. But…”

\- “I didn't even consider it a possibility.”

\- “We act as civilly as possible, you stop looking at me and acting like I'm a despicable leech and I can help you with the information I get. I can destroy this Jinni if you let me. Leaving the human who is controlling it free to face your fury.” - Raven looked over her shoulder again, meeting his analytical eyes on her, as if weighing all the pros and cons of what she was offering. - “You will only need to talk to me if necessary.”

\- “This is very tempting, since I hope it will never be necessary.”

\- "It's not what your feelings say." - Raven said with a shrug as she looked ahead, watching the huge palace gate approach as they walked at a slow pace. Damian uttered a line of words that Raven did not know, but from the time she had spent in the city, she had learned that they were certainly bad words.

\- “Get out of my head.”

\- “I'm not in your head. Your feelings are like deep pools of water hidden by walls. Some protrude and flood me. It's not my fault if you're an emotional mess!”

\- “I'm not an emotional mess!” - He had his eyes wide - “I'm a man! Men are not _'an emotional mess_!'”

\- “Well, I can really see that.” - Raven smiled and moved again against his lap. Oh gods! - “ Hey..." - She moved again, with a grimace - "Is there a dagger in your pocket?”

\- “What?” - Damian looked at her with his eyebrows almost forming one and then, he felt his cheeks heat up when he realized what she was implying. Damian's instant reaction was to stop the horse and check his own condition and to his frustration, his body was reacting badly to all that walking. The horse's movement, the fact that she was like a worm moving against his lap, the lavender scent he smelled from her hair and how the skin on her chest and shoulder felt so soft and he was so focused on not feeling anything that his body responded involuntarily.

 _And now everything hurt_.

\- “Something is poking me. Do you have a dagger in your pocket?”

\- “It is none of your business.” - Damian managed to answer as dryly as he could, struggling to erase from his mind that rain of ways he thought to shut her up.

_When did his mind get that creative?_

\- “I'm kidding!” - She smiled shyly looking over her shoulder - “No need to be so defensive!” - She inhaled, letting the air out slowly from her nostrils - “Anyway... What do you say?”

\- “About what?”

\- "About the deal I proposed to you, Prince Damian." - Raven looked ahead, her eyes on the palace that was now so close that she could hear the sounds from within. The smells coming from the kitchen, the movement to prepare the banquet hall, the carts with things to supply the palace kitchen.

The smell was tempting enough to make Raven's stomach growl.

Damian was silent and Raven wondered if he had heard her stomach, but if he had, he ignored it completely. Over her shoulder, she saw his green eyes looking at the horizon, bathed in sunlight, his eye was almost amber, as if there were traces of gold in the green iris.

A dangerous mix of gold and emerald.

He licked his bottom lip , his hands tightening on the horse's reins, forcing the animal to stop as they entered the palace gates. They stopped in front of a garden that stretched out of sight. Raven had been in that garden when she first arrived there and when she returned later with Commander Roy, but it was the first time she had allowed herself to watch it in daylight. There were many species of plants there and flowers separated by colors forming a very beautiful mosaic, with a water source in the middle of everything. It was meticulously cared for, not a leaf out of place or lying on the ground.

She took in a deep breath letting the scent of roses fill her lungs and waited for Damian to get off the horse. Then she moved her legs to the side thinking about how to jump off that animal without settling on Damian in the process but before she thought better, Damian's hands were on her waist again, lifting her off the horse's back and placing her on the ground almost like a feather.

Raven lost her balance and staggered, holding tightly in his arms to keep her from falling and when she looked into his eyes to apologize, Raven forgot how to speak. He was surrounded by the colors of the garden and the sun and this was more beautiful than she remembered and that was unfair.

\- “Hm... Thank you.” - Raven managed to reply disconcerted and looked away.

\- “You are welcome” - He said looking indifferent and then called a servant to take the horse to the stable, giving orders to take care of the animal. - “Come. My mother must be waiting for you.” - He put a hand on Raven's back and with the other he signaled where she should go.

Raven looked at the palace and its stairs in front of her and suddenly she felt... _small_.

That palace was so big and even the servants had elegant clothes. For a brief moment, Raven wanted to curse herself, why did she accept this initially? She wasn’t part of royalty, not of that dimension. She shouldn't be there and she had a feeling she would screw it up if she tried.

They climbed the stairs, walked through a hall and passed a dark wooden table with so many dishes being set! Raven found herself watching the details. The roses in the arrangements, the cushioned tent at the top of a staircase, the gold prevalent in almost everything. She barely noticed when Damian slowed his steps when they entered a long hall with wooden doors and hand-painted bows.

\- "Okay," - he said quietly, at the level of her ear, and Raven instinctively put her hand on her chest, as if she could control the errant beating of her heart.

\- “ _‘Okay’_ what?” - She replied nonchalantly, trying to remember what he was talking about.

\- “I accept your agreement.” - He said in a very low tone, almost guttural and Raven felt a shiver down her spine. His voice in her ear had a dangerous edge that made every cell in Raven's body electrify and every dark part of it scratched the surface wanting to get out and take over. When had he come so close to her?

They stopped in front of a dark door and Raven was still trying to remember how to breathe and she could have sworn she saw a small smile of pride grow at the corner of his lips as he rested his hand on the door handle, but not opening it. - "But... You will accept my mother's offer."

\- “What offer?”

\- “She will make you another offer, she wants you to be here when the baby is born and for some stupid reason she feels safe with your presence. My mother has been too sentimental about this pregnancy thing.” - He raised an eyebrow - “It is a risky pregnancy, when she had me it was a delicate night, and we know that her age is not the safest now.” - He blinked twice and looked quickly at her - This is the offer, you stay in the palace until she has the baby and I accept your peace agreement.”

\- “Do you want me around now?”

\- “Don't be stupid... No, I don't want that!” - Damian said between his teeth - “But I don't want to have to explain myself every time that I need to go to your little hut in the middle of nowhere to get information. And like I said, I don't trust you, here you are under my eyes and you miss a step and that's all I need.”

\- “It still sounds to me that you want my presence around.”

\- “Believe what you want... It's not the truth.”

\- “Whatever.”

\- “That's my condition. You want us to work together and I accept your offer of peace. My mother needs someone powerful around when she has the baby and I need information about who is declaring war on my family and my people.” - Damian grumbled without looking at her, with a lost stoic look - “You have until the banquet to answer me whether you accept or not.” - And before Raven managed to react, he turned the latch in his hands, opening the door with a loud squeak announcing that they were there.

Damian left Raven in the care of the queen afterward, not dwelling long on the two women's conversation. No, he had things to work out.

And he needed a little time without having Raven around. He needed to have control over his own emotions again after what happened in the forest, when he almost kissed her and that ride to the palace hadn't helped at all.

In fact, it had made the situation much worse and now his body was complaining about it. It wasn't right and he was sure she was keeping him under a spell, why the hell did she move so much on him? Gods, he was almost going crazy.

Damian saw Raven again only when she walked through the palace garden accompanied by Talia and Jason. They all talked together about something and he wasn’t sure how to feel about that. For some reason, that bitter taste came and went in his mouth like a poison every time he saw Raven and Jason talking animatedly while Talia gave orders to some servant.

And soon after, Damian pushed that sensation deep into his chest. He shouldn't feel it, he shouldn't have any feelings for Raven. His body shouldn't react to her as if she were a force that he couldn't escape and he should definitely not dream of her and he should not even imagine what her lips and skin would taste like.

Probably his mother was just trying to make her see that not everyone in the palace hated her, but

something deep inside Damian's chest told him it was more than that. And thinking that Talia might be trying to get Raven to marry one of his brothers did something weird to him.

As if a fury he didn't know how to control wanted to break in his chest in the same way that the waves of the sea broke furiously in the bay.

And convincing her to stay at the palace now didn't seem like a good idea. Initially, when she had proposed that they raise white flags in the personal war, Damian saw this as a way to keep her under his eyes. Staying in the palace would be a way to be able to study her closely and wait for the misstep. He tried to ignore the agitation in his chest by imagining her living under the same roof as him.

That would be just professional, just to prove his point.

But now, thinking about the possibility that she might fall in love with any of his brothers made him feel like the most stupid guy on the planet. She couldn't like anyone, she shouldn't belong to any of his brothers, she shouldn't wander around them. Dreams of his brothers, and especially his brothers shouldn’t own the kisses on those lips.

_Wait, what?_

Damian did his best to convince himself that he was thinking about protecting his family. If his suspicions were confirmed and Raven was an infiltrator, making one of the king's sons fall in love with her was an easy move, considering how easy his brothers ended up getting involved with love and romance.

He held onto it like a life raft, but he wasn't sure if that was really the reason.

As the night approached, the Queen's guests began to appear and Damian found himself anxious. The music filled the hall and the laughter started to get too loud with each passing hour and he saw no signs of Raven. None of the girls dressed in blue and gold were she and none had her amethyst eyes.

Damian found himself looking at the staircase more often than he normally did.

He heard whispers about the mysterious witch who had been taken to the palace that afternoon, carried by the prince himself on his horse. The whispers were never meant for Damian or any member of the royal family to hear, but Damian listened and that somehow caused almost all the girls of lords to appear in blue and purple clothes.

 _Pathetic_ , Damian thought, rolling his eyes as he saw yet another family of lords try to push his daughter not much younger than Damian into a dance with him. She wore the same shade of blue that Raven wore that afternoon, with a very sickening smell of jasmine.

Damian almost had to swallow an urge to throw up.

He was almost considering the possibility that Raven had returned to the hut and their agreement was over when the music stopped almost completely and all eyes followed the body appearing at the top of the stairs.

_Raven…_

And she was so beautiful that Damian had to remind himself how to breathe before he passed out from suffocation.

She wore a dress like the ones she always wore, long and left only her shoulders exposed. Her long black hair had been braided into a long, labored braid, the same kind that Talia liked to do in Stephanie's hair. The dress was a mixture of tones between blue, purple and gold and like before, with the cotton dress, Damian thought she looked like a mix of an angel and a nymph. Now he was almost sure that she had emerged from a river as the queen of the nymphs.

The dress was supported by a thin purple collar, sewn directly on the top. Adorned with 7 sapphires between the collar and bust. Below, a golden belt with another sapphire supported her waist and breasts as if it were the bodice she always wore. This seemed to give more movement to the long skirt with a bright blue patterned design, which made it look like the ocean waves had become her dress. She had bracelets around her arm (3 on each arm) that were sewn to the cape, which was fastened by a loop with another sapphire at the top of her braid.

She was exuberantly beautiful and Damian couldn't help but look at her, walking timidly down the stairs and following Talia's company, giving a quick look at a gaping Damian.

\- “Please stop drooling and take her out to dance” - Tim said between his teeth - “Everyone will comment on how you drool over a witch.”

\- “W-What?” - Damian stammered, blinking a few times before he felt reality hit him like a board - “I'm not drooling over anyone Drake... Stop being an idiot!”

\- “Well... It's not what it seems.”

\- “But it is what it is.” - Damian said firmly.

\- “You didn't even blink as she went down the stairs, you looked at her with the same devotion that our father looks at our mother.”

\- “There is no devotion.” - Damian grumble - “I was just looking at her dress. I don't think she is someone who has sapphires stored in bags and my mother couldn’t have obtained such a dress in such a short time.”

\- “You know that the seamstresses of the kingdom bring many options for the queen when she has a banquet, right? Surely mom sent for all the seamstresses from within this little kingdom to please her new crown jewel.” - Damian looked at Tim waiting for an explanation of what he meant - “She accepted mom's invitation. She will be part of the court now and will spend a few weeks here at the palace, at least until the baby is born. Didn't you know?” - Tim raised an eyebrow - “Dick said that mom is interested in her besides just being an official witch or something, but that he couldn't say for sure because he wasn't certain.”

\- "No." - Damian lied, looking quickly at Raven sitting next to Talia watching the girls dance in the middle of the room next to Jason and Dick. She had a thin, almost imperceptible smile and Damian couldn't tell if she was in his head again or if he was starting to get paranoid. - “I didn't know about it.”

\- “Well, now you know. Apparently, her only requirement is that she could continue serving people and doing her magic healing potions. Mom has already ordered that one of the rooms in the palace become her own office. It's funny isn't it? Suddenly, this witch won the heart of the entire court and she asks for nothing. She could ask to be the next queen and she asks only to continue giving medical care to the people and making magic potions in the kitchen.”

\- “I don't see anything funny about it, Drake.” - Damian rolled his eyes - “I don't see her any more than as a chess game... She is up to something to checkmate all of us.”

\- “Oh damn... You really are obsessed with her.”

\- “What?”

\- “You can't even hide. You're obsessed, you want to find out about her at all costs and keep making conspiracy theories to explain what you're feeling.”

\- “You are stupid, like the other two idiots I call ‘brother’.

\- “Whatever. You will have to learn to live with her. Anyway, she told mom that she only accepted it because you convinced her of it. I think you got points with the queen after that.” - Tim said with a shrug and Damian watched her talk to Talia about something, eyes lifting in Damian's direction once or twice but before he had time to crawl close to her, Alfred appeared informing him that dinner was served.

Had she told Talia that she accepted because of him? Oh gods, he needed to get this clean with her somehow.

What would they think? That he had feelings for her? Did he? Damian was confused and he didn't like it.

Before the dishes were served and the wine filled the glasses, Talia made an important announcement. That Raven would now be part of the court, but making it clear that she would still help the townspeople as she did before and that anyone who needed her medicine was welcome to the palace to receive it.

The daughters of the lords all looked at Raven as if she were one more in the competition and that wasn’t good.

Except for one, _Maya Ducard_ , she saw Raven as an intriguing girl. She couldn't help but notice Damian's possessive gaze on her and how he couldn't take his eyes off her every move. Surely that boy was suffering from his own feelings and she was sure to get it out of him at some point. She knew that they had been promised in marriage since before their birth. And she knew that since she spent more time in the company of Damian by order of the queen. But she had no other feeling for the boy than a great brotherly love.

He was a sentimental mess and she was always there to help him, but she knew that her heart would never belong to Damian, just as Damian's would never belong to her.

She just hoped that he would find someone he loved so much, that he would do his best to break that stupid deal that took away their right to choose before they could even dream of existing. And now, she felt that Damian had found this in the pretty witch with weird and unusual amethyst eyes.

Damian sighed and threw himself on the cushions when the banquet ended and the wine and dance party filled the hall again, with music playing loudly through claps and the sound of happy laughter. He had a lot to think about. About what Tim had said, about her staying in the palace being the answer to the small peace agreement between them and about her strange request. Tim was right, she had the kingdom and the regents in the palm of her hand. She could ask the queen to let her marry one of her children and become the next owner of all that, yet the only thing she had asked for in exchange was to be able to care for people who needed her magic medicine.

Either she was a very good person or she was planning a bigger coup.

And Damian didn't know which probability weighed most on his mind.

When he propped himself up on his elbows again, she was no longer sitting next to Talia or just watching people dance. She was standing, holding Jason's hand in the middle of the room. Jason taught her a few dance steps and she learned easily, moving with a delicacy that made everyone else look like dead weights swinging from side to side. Damian watched every movement of her arms, hands and waist as if he were mesmerized and he couldn't help the feeling of envy that took over his chest even though he didn't want to.

He was jealous of Jason. Jealous that he was holding her hand, jealous that Jason was making her laugh. He shouldn't feel it, he didn't want to feel it.

\- “They make a beautiful couple, don't you think?” - Talia said leaning against Damian's side, watching Raven laugh out loud at the steps Jason had taught her. Damian looked up at his mother and didn't know how to respond, pressing his lips in a thin line to keep one from escaping his mouth.

_He definitely didn't think Jason and Raven were a beautiful couple._

\- “Your brother needs a wife.” - She didn't look at Damian, she had a smile on her lips looking at the two dancing agitated in front of them. Jason was like that with all the girls (and boys) in the kingdom. Was he exactly that way, because his mother saw something special now? - “And I want Raven in our family. She would be a perfect addition.”

\- “Why Jason.?” - Damian let out almost without realizing - “He's too old for her. She's my age.”

\- “She is at the right age to have heirs, Dami, and Jason needs an heir. He can't be skipping around having thousands of loves for the rest of his life! Dick, for example, already has a suitor... a princess from faraway lands. Jason needs to follow Dick's example! Just like Timothy and you and your sisters.”

\- "But she doesn't need to marry Todd to have heirs. She .. She doesn't need to marry Jason to be part of our family" - Damian had both eyebrows close together, no longer controlling what comes out of his mouth. That bitter taste rising in his throat once more and now, he felt he couldn't control it.

\- "And why not?" - Talia finally looked at him, a frown of curiosity and concern growing between her eyebrows - "Don't tell me that you-"

\- "No!" - Damian said firmly, more to convince himself of this than to convince his own mother - "It's not that. It's just that I think he's too old for her. And I doubt Jason intends to marry any girl for now."

\- "Well... He can court her." - Talia shrugged - "I'm good as a cupid."

Damian didn't answer, feeling that if he said anything more about it, he would regret it. He shouldn't care about that. He shouldn't feel that sting in his chest when he thinks of her calling Jason "husband" and he shouldn't feel that bitterness in his mouth when looking at them in the middle of people, having fun dancing, but he did...

 _And he couldn't avoid it_.

He took a deep breath and looked up at the tent ceiling above him, letting the thoughts settle in his mind and calm his heart. Raven could say no, Jason would definitely say no, but he still felt weird about it.

Shouldn't he care about her, or who she married then, why he felt like he should? As if there was no person in the world who could deserve everything she could offer?

Why did he feel that?

Damian didn't let the questions pile up in his mind and before reason took over his heart, he jumped up and walked over to her and Jason. Who laughed when Jason tangled in the fabric of her cover.

\- "Little brother!" - Jason said smiling and putting his arms on Damian's shoulder - "You didn't tell me that you had convinced her to accept being with us. You little bastard!"

\- “Todd please... Are you already drunk on wine?”

\- “No.” - Jason raised his eyebrow - “I'm happy with the wine and this smart and very, very beautiful girl!”

\- “Go get some water and stop drinking wine before you hurt someone.” - Damian said in a dark tone.

\- “And who's going to teach her how to dance?”

\- “I will.”

\- “Oh” - Jason said with raised eyebrows and a mischievous smile on his lips - “Will you teach her how to dance? You who doesn’t dance with just anyone...? Got it. Okay... I'll get some wine and you, birdie. If he steps on your foot, let me know, I'll make sure to punish him for that.”

\- “Living with you is enough punishment, Todd” - Damian said rolling his eyes - “Now go... I need to... Discuss an issue with the witch.”

\- “Okay. You’re the boss, boss.” - Jason shrugged and leaned on his tiptoe to speak in Damian's ear - “If you fuck her, remember to come off her. You don't want bastards kids before the wedding.”

\- “For the love of the all gods, Todd. Shut up and get out of here!”

\- “Okay. We'll talk later, birdie! This is if prince constipation has no plans for later and allows, of course.”

\- “Jason…”

\- “Don’t worry, Jay, I know how to get away from him.” - Jason smiled and put his thumbs up, walking dizzy towards the pillows where Damian was before. Raven watched as he handed Queen Talia the glass and collapsed.

Raven looked at Damian standing there in front of her, the green and gold tunic matching perfectly with the green and gold of his eyes and the cinnamon of his skin. His hair was down now and she found herself holding the skirt of her dress tightly to keep her hands from touching his hair.

Was it as soft as she imagined it was? Did the strands smell of cinnamon and spices as she imagined they would? She started to think that accepting his terms and staying there at the palace would be torture for the mind and too late, she started to regret it.

Damian took a breath and Raven noticed how he swallowed from the movement of his Adam's apple when he held her hand and with the other, he held her waist.

\- “Shall we start?”


	8. Chapter 7

_"Shall we start?"_

Raven looked at Damian for a few long seconds, watching as he expected her to take some action. All eyes were now on them, standing in the middle of the room and the music and the laughter that once filled the place, gradually gave way to whispers and curious looks.  
She could feel all those looks, she could feel curious people and she didn't blame them. Raven was an outsider and Damian was the crown prince, coveted by all the girls, poor and rich, of that city of stones. He was someone and she was just the witch who fell not-so-unintentionally in the middle of that family.

People would comment, of course they would comment... And she didn't know how much she could care about that... or stop caring.

Raven suddenly felt strange, it seemed that she didn’t fit there.

Suddenly, all her insecurities threatened to engulf her. She knew they lived there, under her skin, whispering her fears and insecurities to her in the back of her mind, wanting her to break down and lose control. Whispering to remind her who she really was, making her remember that she was not worthy. There was nothing but contempt for the horror she could become, but for the most part, it was easy to ignore.

Most of the time, Prince Damian was just an annoying memory that threatened her peace every night before bed, easy to ignore too.

Now, he was there, holding _her hand_...

He didn't awaken the horrors that lived in her, but he did awaken the insecurity that she did her best to hide and she didn't even know exactly why he aroused that insecurity in her. She didn't understand the avalanche that threatened to break inside her every time his emerald green eyes met her amethysts..

Their palms were sweaty as on a hot day and Raven didn't know if it was hers or his. She took a deep breath, calming her own mind, there was no need for that. She was probably just nervous by the looks of others and the loud and conflicting feelings of the guests and the royal family filling her head.

It's not like she has any feelings for the handsome prince... right?

She should have only remembered her own limits before she accepted all this mess. Raven felt her heart beat as hard as a hammer against her chest, and it almost hurt. She had been good at ignoring all those feelings for the past few hours and ignoring Damian's gaze on her since she came down the stairs. But everything was too much, everything was too overwhelming and she didn't know how long she could take it without breaking. The voice in the back of her mind reminded her at all times of who she was and Raven was beginning to wonder, why did he choose her to dance?

Among all those girls with olive skin and elaborate hairstyles and gold robes, he chose her... Why? What did she have? A queen's dress that for some reason of the gods fit her.

And a title she honestly didn't know what it could mean. Witch of the kingdom?

Why did he want to dance with her? She wasn't even sure she had learned anything correctly from a drunk and stumbling Jason Todd.

\- “Raven, shall we start?” - Damian asked again, his hand firm against hers, causing her to be brought back to earth and her attention to be cut off from the sensations around her. Damian was still a short distance from her, but Raven could still swear she heard his heartbeat against his chest.

Raven took a deep breath and licked her bottom lip, trying to find her own voice, why the hell did she accept it all initially? She should have known better, that he had an effect on her that she still didn't understand and that she hadn't learned to deal with yet.

Effects that Azar should have warned her about, before sending her to look for this family.

Her mouth was dry, as if she had been in the desert for a long time but she could still taste the cinnamon and spices that came from him and she didn't know why, but she understood that he was just as nervous as she was.

\- “I…” - Raven muttered finally, but the words died in her throat.

\- “Trust me, Raven. You will do well, I will make sure you do well.” - Damian said, seeming to read all those questions and concerns in her eyes. - “Do... Do you trust me?”

Raven didn't have to answer, for some reason from the stupid gods above them he knew the answer before she even nodded. Her heart stopped beating in a second and started beating faster than a hummingbird and all she saw afterwards was a small, thin smile forming on his lips when her confirmation came.

_Mother Of Azarath, he would be her death..._

Raven looked up at Damian again, letting his green eyes take her from there to anywhere else in the world. He caused mixed feelings and even if his mess of feelings flooded her, at that moment, it was enough to silence all the whispering voices in her ears. Raven let the green of Damian's eyes fill her mind, calm her own heartbeat, flood every cell in her body. It was as if his eyes reminded her of the green of the forest, the trees that surrounded her house, the smell of morning dew.

His eyes reminded her of home. And as strange as it was for Raven, she willingly accepted it, even though it didn't make any sense to her and even though she didn't want him to be on the short list of happy memories that she had.

\- “Do you want me to trust you now?” - Raven said so low that Damian should have wondered if he had even heard what she said, as his eyebrows came together in one, before softening again and he clicked his tongue while rolling his eyes, looking bored.

\- “I'm trying to help, we're standing in the middle of the room and people are waiting for you to dance.” - He said between his teeth, seeming to try to keep his grip on the bay of his thoughts.

He had said once that afternoon that she brought out the worst in him, maybe he was serious. 

Raven observed Damian's body language and behind that impeccable prince of disdain posture, Raven saw him take a deep breath as he had done in her cabin in the afternoon, using meditation techniques she knew to stay focused and calm. Was he nervous? Was it his feelings that were moving her heart like that? Raven shook her head trying to regain some control in her own life before she did something she didn't want to do.

Disordered feelings always messed her up and that prince's feelings were a tangle of messes.

Raven finally managed to look away from Damian's emerald eyes and she realized the almost deadly silence that the banquet had become. Just whispers from somewhere or other, waiting for the battle of glances and whispered conversations between the two young one’s to end, all eagerly waiting for their first move, as if a big show was about to happen.

Even Jason, who 5 minutes before seemed to have finally been knocked over by wine, was now propped up on his elbows, looking at them both in the middle of the room. A silly and smug smile appearing in the corner of his blue eyes almost whispering to her: _“I warned you,"_

He nodded to Raven and she just rolled her eyes, pretending not to be interested in whatever the hint was he had said with that gesture. At that same time Queen Talia signaled the musicians to play again and Raven felt as if the world closed completely around her.

It was as if her body was under a spell that he had inflicted upon her the moment his hands met hers and she knew exactly where to step, where to turn, or how to move her arms gracefully. She could hear claps coming from all over the place, keeping up with the rhythm of the music, but all she could focus on was Damian's eyes locked on hers as he made his own steps in sync with hers.

Oh Azar, she could have sworn she saw a small and almost imperceptible smile form on his lips when he knelt in front of her. She had not prepared herself mentally for smiles coming from him and it was a smile that could illuminate paths that she didn't even know existed in her heart.

She had never danced like that before, but it was as if she knew every step since she was a child, and she didn't even know if she was doing it right. Seconds became minutes, minutes became hours and it felt like an eternity in his little musical universe.

When the music stopped, Raven staggered, accidentally stepping on the hem of her dress and being held by Damian almost instinctively before she fell to the floor. His hands held tightly to the curve of her waist while her hands closed tightly around the greene fabric of his sleeve. His eyes surprised and were caught in her amethyst eyes, his breath as heavy as Raven's. His lips were half open and Raven could feel his breath and smell the cinnamon, honey and mint that came from him. She wondered what it would be like to taste his lips and why he was so close and so far at the same time.

Raven felt that her heart could almost break her ribs and she didn't know if it was because of the dance or because of the effect that Damian had on her, her chest felt too tight against that dress, rising and falling hard with each breath. The spell that kept her trapped and safe in Damian's eyes broke like glass and the flood of feelings coming from people watching them waiting for their next action, the envy and jealousy that filled her and all the hum of the confusion that Damian was, started to poison Raven and she didn't know how much longer she would have before she broke.

Damian didn't let go of Raven's waist when he lifted her up again, but remained standing there like a stone, ignoring the people dancing around him. His attention returned completely to Raven, a small frown of concern grew between his eyebrows.

\- “You…” - He started to say before scratching his throat, forcing his voice to come out more than a whisper. - “Are you okay?”

Raven couldn't say. _Was she okay?_ She felt too much all at the same time and she knew it was not good. Not when the more she became contaminated with the feelings of others and neglected her own, the more volatile her powers became. Too many feelings of other people left her powers uncontrolled most of the time and that is why she preferred the solitude and silence of the forest.

There in the middle of that ball, she could feel the confusion in the eyes of the people. The envy in the eyes of the girls, the curiosity and desire in the eyes of the men, the fun in the eyes of the people when they saw her almost fall on her dress. And her own feelings a complete mess when looking at Damian with both hands still around her waist, his hands spread out on the curve as if he needed to memorize that path with his fingertips so as not to forget.

Raven only managed to move her head and a barely whispered _"no"_ on her lips, loosening herself from the grip of Damian's warm, callused hands against her waist.

She took a deep breath and took a step back, trying to make things stop being so overwhelming for her head. Her heart was still pounding against her chest and Damian's hands still on her didn't help. She shouldn't think about it, she shouldn't think about all the things she was thinking about, nor fantasize that they could be anything. He didn't trust her, he tried to kill her the first minute they met. He would never look at her as anything but a threat.

And he was right about that, Raven was like a cannon bomb that could explode at any moment ... _She was a threat._

She had to remember that before she had any silly feelings for the man with those emerald eyes that made her heart beat so hard she thought she would almost die. The more she remembered the things he had said, the easier it would be for her to protect her heart.  
Raven continued walking through the crowd watching Damian outstretch his hand to reach her, no more than 5 steps away, she needed some air and solitude and there, in the middle of all those people, she wouldn't have it.

She could feel her power start to crackle on her fingers and she could already see the effect of her powers on a small black speck in the bright green of Damian's clothes where her fingers had touched.

Before Damian could say anything more to her, Raven took another step back and then another, turning on her back completely as she disappeared into the crowd. She needed to get out of there before she ended up hurting someone.

Raven walked without knowing where those paths would take her and ended up in the huge rose garden that she had seen when she arrived at the palace. No matter what she did, for some reason she always fell upon that garden. It was like something telling her that no matter what she did, she would always end up in the same place. No matter what she did, she always fell into that palace and into Damian's green eyes.

Gods it was as if they were connected by something. Was that the reason Azar had told her to look for that family when Raven decided to leave Azarath?

Raven walked aimlessly through the green bushes and colorful flowers to the water fountain in the middle of the garden that now gushed silently in the white moonlight above it. She took a few deep breaths while letting the air oxygenate her brain and soothe her own thoughts. The relaxing sound of water flowing from the falling fountain helped her to silence the mess she had become while the silence of the night brought her back to normal and helped her push her demon to the back of her mind.

She stood there alone in silence, massaging her temples when she felt the presence of someone close to her. Damian's indisputable aura was close and she wanted to tell him that she needed to be alone and that she would be grateful if he stopped looking at her the way he always did, but anything she had to say died on her lips when she looked him in the eye.

Damian had a small frown of concern growing between his dark, thick brows, it was almost imperceptible, but Raven could see it. For some damn reason she could see it but, she couldn't understand him worrying about her? Why? He didn't even like her and they had just made a peace deal that afternoon.

\- “Witch?” - His voice sounded deep and hoarse looking at her and Raven raised an eyebrow, she thought they had already passed the stage where he was addressing her like this. He rolled his eyes and took and sighed - “I'm sorry, I mean, Raven?” - He said looking at her, the frown of concern growing when he noticed that she was paler than normal. 

\- “Did something happen? Are you paler than usual, if there is a way for you to be paler than you are. Are you feeling well?”

Raven took a deep breath again. Calming the heartbeat that accelerated again when she heard the sound of her name coming out of his lips like that afternoon and she noticed it was the first time he had called her name without hesitation. His eyes were quickly searching. any sign of harm or injury.

\- “I…” - Raven swallowed and blinked twice, trying to find the right words to say to him. She had a feeling that their peace agreement was as thin as ice and she knew that if she told him that her demonic powers were out of control, it would make that truce between them break. - “I needed some air. I’m… I’m not... I'm not used to so many people feeling so many things at the same time. It overwhelmed my empathy.”

“You're an empathetic.” - Damian shook his head slowly, as if remembering a moment when Raven had said that. - “You feel more than you see. You said this on the day you saved Todd.” 

\- “Uhh…” - Raven grimaced, did he remember? It had been days ago - “Yes. Yeah... That's exactly right.”

\- “We should have remembered that before throwing you in the middle of a party.” - Damian made a face, wrinkling his nose - “This party was stupid. I said it was stupid.” - He exhaled a long breath, putting his hands on his hips as he looked back at Raven, the frown getting bigger - “Do you need anything? I can have the servants bring you something or take you to your quarters.”

\- “It's okay. I... I just need some air and peace.”. - Raven crossed her arms over her chest, avoiding looking at Damian, his concern was leaving her too confused and she didn't understand why he was so worried. Did she look that bad? - “You go back to the party, Your Majesty. I'm fine.”

\- “No, you’re not okay. You are paler than normal and you cannot be alone here in the middle of the garden.” - Damian murmured walking closer to her, staying no more than a step away from Raven - “Besides, you insisted on keeping me company this afternoon for my protection, which was extremely unnecessary, I am merely returning the favor.”

\- “But... But you are the prince... You are the host.”

\- “And you are the new jewel in the crown.”

\- “People will miss you.”

\- “And I really don't care.” - He inhaled and let the air out heavily from his nostrils - “For all intents and purposes, I had already retired to my rooms. It wouldn't be the first time, anyway. I don't usually stay until the end of these parties.”

Raven looked at him for a few seconds, her head tilting to the side as she tried to see something in his eyes that told her that he was still the bastard prince who had tried to kill her days before. Or something that showed it was just a trap to find out who she really was, but all Raven managed to find was confusion, doubts and worry.

\- “Wait... am I understanding this correctly? Do you... actually want to stay with me?” - Raven said with a smile threatening to come out of the corner of her lips.

\- “Don't sound confident,” - Damian rolled his eyes again - “Like I said, I'm just returning the favor. And now that we have a peace agreement, I see no reason why we shouldn't put this into practice.” - He shrugged - “Besides, I'll have to learn to live with you here in the palace for the next few days until my mother has the baby, anyway... So let's do it in a pleasant way for both of us.”

\- “Uhh,” - Raven blinked twice - “Okay. This is new and I don't understand what happened to you that completely changed you from a person who completely hates me to a kind person, but If that is what you are saying, then I will not question it.” - She wrinkled her nose.

\- “I still don't want your friendship, witch. And I'm not being kind, I'm just showing concern for someone who is now part of the royal court as the future king.” - Damian crossed his arms over his chest - “But I reflected during the afternoon in my rooms and I agree that we should have a civilized coexistence.” - Raven chuckled behind her hand, watching his face change to the version she knew of him, the version irritated with the world around him - “Don't make me regret this so quickly.”

Raven watched his eyes soften as he noticed her laugh, concern for her condition disappearing at the same time the sound of her laughter reached his ears. Raven also noted the confusion she had before calm down as well as the uncontrollable wave she was becoming before she became the usual calm.

Damian and his green eyes took the worst out of her, but she couldn't deny how good she felt when she saw him there. He caused feelings in her she was accustomed to and she was still weighing that on her own mental scale while controlling any urge to want to touch him.

\- “Okay, okay.“ - Raven smiled - “I didn’t say anything.” - She raised her arms in surrender and that almost made Damian laugh.

He pushed that sound deep into his chest again and it all just felt like an annoying cough. He wasn't ready for a laugh with her yet, he didn't think they had reached that level yet and he still didn't know if he wanted to get there.

The truth is that Damian felt his chest tighten when she disappeared into the crowd of dancing people. His heart was compressed in his chest like never before and for a moment, he thought he had done something wrong.

And as strange as it was, he didn't want that feeling.

He knew that feeling those things for her was wrong. Feelings were dangerous for the time bomb he could be and he didn't want to feel anything for her, not an ounce of feeling that was not contempt. But he needed to admit to himself that she attracted him more than he wanted to admit.

He knew it was normal, she was a beautiful woman. With long dark hair that went to her waist and skin as smooth as silk. Soft and dangerous curves, plump breasts, pink and pouty lips and eyes of the purest amethyst but, there was something more. Something that had bothered him since the first moment he laid eyes on her that night. Something that haunted him, made him lose his breath, made his hands tremble and made him react like an idiot.

And that thing he felt stirred in his chest when he saw her with Jason Todd, smiling with his brother and not with him. That thing marked him like an animal when he saw her eyes before she walked away from him the two times they were stupidly close to each other. That thing made him feel empty when she didn't want his kiss, even if he regretted it later.

_It was a spell, he was sure of it_

He wouldn't be able to fight it all if he didn't let go of anger, it made sense to him, even though much of his interior still wanted to have Raven by his side.

He didn't know if he totally believed it or if he was just kidding himself, but he needed to try.  
Damian took a long breath and pushed it all to the back of his mind, he just needed to be friendly to her and he wouldn't have to act like she was his friend. They just needed to be as normal as possible, right? It shouldn't be difficult.

It shouldn't be difficult if Damian wasn't sentimentally stunted like a closed door.

\- “Hm…” - He licked his lower lip and pointed to another place - “Do you want to walk a little? You didn't get a chance to see the birdhouse, did you?”

\- “Hmm…” - Raven made a funny face and then shook her head - “It was exactly there that you tried to cut my throat.” - Raven gave an amused smile, swinging on her heels.

\- “I think it's a great place to start from scratch then.” - He grumbled, one eyebrow raised as he walked into the garden, along a polished stone path. Raven looked around without knowing what decision to make. Damian was a question mark that she couldn't decipher and she was perhaps too mentally tired to try to understand.

Anyway, it's not like he can really do anything to her. She had shown it to him when he tried to kill her.

Raven sighed in resignation and started walking, following Damian through the bushes and roses separated by colors. Raven wondered what would be the design that they should form if seen from above.

They walked in silence along the way for a few seconds, until Raven heard the sound of hearts beating as fast as hers could beat when she was with Damian. There was a small house there that she didn't quite remember the size of when she first arrived there. She just remembered to follow instinct and run to that little robin who was flapping in agony and telling her that the danger was coming. Raven could now see the silence of the birds' sleep inside the aviary, no bigger than the house she had in the middle of the forest.  
It reminded her of a greenhouse that was too big, but this time, with birds.

Damian asked Raven to come in and she followed his order, looking at the perches scattered all over the place while holding the hem of the dress so she wouldn't drag it on the dirty floor. It was a queen dress too beautiful to be dirty with clay and bird poop.

They stood there in silence, in the complete darkness of the birdhouse and Raven could feel that Damian's eyes were still on her figure. It was difficult to be able to see in an acceptable way when the only thing they had above them was the moonlight coming through the stained glass.

And Damian didn't think she could be any more beautiful... Wait, what?

\- “I think this place needs a little more light.” - Raven said after a while in silence, trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness to see where he was. He was still standing not far from her.

Raven could feel him looking at her, curiosity eating away at the walls he put around himself to hide his own feelings. She could see the walls start to fall and she could bet that the mask of indifference he almost always held was giving way to a look of pure curiosity.

She felt that strange sensation in her chest again when he finally seemed to leave the place where he was standing and walk towards her, looking like a silent snake in the moonlight that bathed them. She wanted to say something, to say some silly joke or a stupid provocation, but the words seemed to have disappeared from her lips when the green sparkle in his eyes seemed like a poison she wanted to experience very badly.

Raven bit the inside of her cheek to have some damn control over herself. What was she thinking? She was a damn witch and was acting like a silly little girl because of a cute enchanted prince. She wasn’t that little girl, she wasn’t one of those girls who were waiting for the opportunity to dance with him and live a fucked up fairy tale.

She didn't _deserve_ to be that girl. She was a damn witch cursed by her father's powers and that was what she should focus on, not how his eyes looked greener in the low moonlight, or how she still felt the ghost of his hand on her waist. Nor how he sent chills down her spine every time he said her name, the accent making her heart miss a beat. She shouldn't have been thinking about how damn hot he was and definitely not dreaming about it.

Raven blew out a heavy breath, trying to push thoughts of Prince Damian into the dark recess of her mind.

_'Focus on the damn power and not your attraction'_ Raven thought _‘not that i'm attracted to him.’_

\- “I don't think birds know how to light a lamp during the night. I don't think they need it either…”

\- “Haha! Very funny.” - Raven said, rolling her eyes. She moved her hand quickly and a purple flame appeared in her free hand, illuminating his face no more than 2 steps away from her.

-”Show off.” - Damian grunted between his teeth, drawing a giggle from Raven.

\- “I'm just making it easier. You wouldn't be able to show much with just the moonlight above us.” - Raven tilted her head to the side - “Think carefully about what you want to show me, little prince. One hand on your pants and I’ll use you as a torch.”

\- “What?” - Damian had his eyebrows almost together and then, he seemed to understand and looked at her in horror, as if she had said a heresy, a slight pink tone spreading across his cheeks - “No! By all the gods, woman.” - He shook his head, still horrified by the hint of Raven, who now gave a loud laugh, almost as loud as the one she was giving in the dance hall - “I just wanted to show you the birds, I mean... Real birds. I thought you liked these animals. I never... No... I was just trying to be... polite and... treating you in a civil way as you proposed today when we were coming back but... You need to ruin everything, don't you?”

\- “Okay.” - Raven tried to control her laughter again, the flame in her hand flickering pink to the sound of her amused laughter - “Okay if you're saying it, I believe it.” - She took a breath, still stifling some giggles, making the flames return to their purple tone from before - “So... What kinds of animals do you have here?” - Raven turned in the same place, eyes trying to focus on the top and not on how adorable he could be when he acted like a shy boy.

It was a ridiculous thought and she didn't want to think he was adorable. He had tried to murder her and he had made it clear that he didn't want her friendship, the less she thought he was _"adorable"_ or _"beautiful"_ or _"interesting"_ or _"good”_ , the better.

Her question seemed to pull Damian out of his shy moment and he straightened up, his eyebrows softening and his expression getting lighter. He began to tell Raven about the birds they had there, very present from other lands or from other kingdoms that were trying to make an alliance with other armies. He explained about each species and how he unfolded between the tasks of a prince and the care of animals.

Raven could almost say it was what he liked best and she began to wonder what else he could have there that aroused that admiration and the sparkle in his eyes like talking about birds. She almost forced herself to tease him once if only to remind herself that he was not that adorable boy she was seeing. He spoke with such passion and knowledge that it was difficult to remember how he had treated her when she first arrived or how he made it clear to her that he didn't want her friendship.

Their relationship should only be about finding out who wanted to kill the royal family.

But Raven knew that her heart barely remembered that anymore, there her heart was beating as fast as a hummingbird's heart when he smiled almost without notice. She had to remember to breathe when his eyes landed sweetly on the animals around them and she still felt the effects of their intense dancing in her bones.

She lost track of time there. They could have spent minutes or hours inside that birdhouse, when he called her to show a couple of reddish-feathered birds, with blue-green tips that slept on a perch not at all bothered by the little flame that Raven held in her palm.

\- "These are red macaws ." - He said no less than a step away from Raven's back, his voice almost a whisper in the darkness, one of his hands resting on her shoulder and Raven felt a chill rise up her spine. She swallowed, trying to remember that she couldn't lose control over herself or she would set the place on fire.

Fire spells were always dangerous if her feelings were out of control.

\- “Macaws?”

\- “Yes.” - Damian said with a smile in his voice, Raven's accent almost tickling his heart - “They are a species that originated from another continent, from my father's distant continent.” - He took a deep breath - “Me and my father found them in a market, they were very badly treated by the market owner, hurt and sick. I took them out, they weren’t happy there. They deserved to be happy. Did you know that this bird species is monogamous? They have only one partner for life. Imagine, having someone like that, someone you love and trust and know that they will be by your side until your last breath. A partner who will never betray you or hurt you. Just a partner you want to spend your life with, just a partner to share every minute of your life with, a partner chosen _by_ you, not _for_ you.” - He smiled a little that melted any wall around Raven's heart. She didn't know what was happening to herself, suddenly, the world around Damian Al Ghul, crowned prince and future ruler of the small kingdom of Nanda Parbat, seemed like the only place she wanted to be.

That made her scold herself almost instantly.

\- “Interesting.” - Raven murmured looking at the macaws and then turned on her heels to find Damian very close to her, eyes fixed on her figure, the air around her filling with the aroma of cinnamon and spices that came from him. Raven took a shaky breath and bit the inside of her cheek to gain some control over herself.

Why did he have to be so....?

\- “Interesting?”

\- “Yes.” - Raven smiled thinly, resting her free hand on his chest, she wasn't sure what she was doing, but she couldn't keep her hands off him. - “Who knew that the little prince with a heart of stone was secretly hopelessly romantic and would have a weakness for Animals.”

\- “First,” - He almost whispered - “I'm not romantic... I'm just commenting about... About the species. And second, animals are easier to deal with. They don't arouse unwanted feelings like people.”

\- “Unwanted feelings?” - Raven had a raised eyebrow - “Do I arouse unwanted feelings in you, highness?”

\- “No. No one arouses any feeling in me. Not even an attractive woman like you, Raven.” - Damian replied, feeling his control slipping from his fingers. Raven was so close to him, he could smell the lavender scent that he was drunk on like that afternoon, when he almost kissed her. He could imagine the flavor of cherry she might have on her lips and he wanted to taste it.

Gods! How he wanted to taste those lips.

Damian found himself being pulled toward her, leaning slowly towards her lips, still unsure of what to do as the hand that still rested on her shoulder went up to the nape of her neck, tangling in the braid she wore. They both felt too confused, they knew it was a dangerous seduction game they played. Damian's lips were so close to Raven's that she could feel his warm breath touching her skin, sending chills down her spine. The flame in her hand grew stronger and red, more vividly dancing in her hand, but burning no more than Damian's green eyes against hers. Her heart was racing, her feelings were messy and she couldn't let herself go, she needed to remember who he was.

Whose _**she**_ was. Feelings _weren’t for her_. The monks had told her, had taught her, had isolated her all her life because of that, because she couldn't feel.

Love wasn’t for her, no feeling was for her.

And Raven knew that the moment she kissed him, she would have to admit feelings that she didn't want to admit. Things she had been denying herself for the past two weeks.

She shouldn't feel anything for him, for anyone in that family. But she felt something for him, something beyond attraction. She didn't want to give names because giving names made things real, but she felt it. An attraction so strong it was as if they were in a gravitational pull.

And she shouldn't feel that. Not for Damian, not for anyone

Raven closed her eyes and took a step back before his lips met hers, before she did something he regretted and she hurt herself. She wouldn't need to hear from him after that had been a mistake, she knew that being just a commoner, kissing the prince would be a mistake.

Her life wasn’t a fairy tale, she had to remember that with every minute she spent by Damian's side.

\- “I... I need to go.” - She closed her eyes and shook her head, taking a few more steps towards the door - “You need to go.”

\- “Raven, wait… Did something happen? Did I... Did I do something?”

\- “No. Do not worry, Your Highness. It's late and…” - She took a deep breath and swallowed the things that came in her throat, what should she say? That he shouldn't kiss her? She didn't even know if he wanted to kiss her! That they shouldn't be alone there? That she wanted to kiss him, but that she shouldn't do that for the sake of what they should be? She was a complete mess and all the things she tried to control, now wanted to leave. Raven licked her lips and let out a slow breath, ordering her heart to beat again and the flame in her hand to decrease before she set that place on fire - “It was a great walk, majesty but… but, you need to go back to the party and the duties with your people and you shouldn't be spending your time with me and... I need to rest before I hurt someone. Before I hurt you.”

\- “What are you talking about?” - Damian tried to reach Raven, his hands lightly brushing her fingertips before she moved further away from him, the flame in her hand getting bigger and red as blood, dancing a silent and dangerous symphony.

\- “I…” - Her voice shook and then, she straightened up, the flame in her hand went out abruptly and all Damian could see was the amethyst in her eyes. - “I am saying that I thank you for your company, but I must go to my rooms. Tiredness affects my powers and you have duties to your people and your guests. So, with your permission. Have a great night, your highness.” - She bent over in the darkness and turned on her back, walking quickly before Damian managed to reach her.

For the first time in those two weeks, Damian was sure he wanted to kiss her, wanted to feel the softness of her lips against his and he let himself want it even though it was wrong and that she was dangerous. That afternoon in the hut he had almost kissed her, he had been carried away by the tension between them, but this time, it was different.

There was that warm feeling in his chest that moved him and left his thoughts blank from the first moment he saw her taking the dark blue hood from her head. A feeling of possession, but also a good one. As if the whole world around was completely extinguished and only her and her angel voice remained.

Damian let himself be guided by that feeling, and she had closed the door on his face.  
He wanted to let himself go with feelings he didn't know yet, but she had rejected him again. 

She had run away from him and his kiss. Once again that day, Raven had turned away from him when he tried to kiss her and it caused a strange feeling in him, not only hurt his ego by a girl to deny him something, but something like it hurt to know she didn't want him. Like it hurt to know that she didn't feel that same feeling he did.

Damian scratched his throat and straightened up, his pride trying to save some of his dignity as he watched her walk away towards the door without looking him in the eye. Then her bird form quickly appeared and she vanished into the night, moon and stars hugging her as she disappeared into the darkness and taking each of his heartbeats with her.

He was cursed, it was the only certainty he had at that moment.


	9. Chapter 8

Damian felt... _frustrated_.

Seeing Raven practically run from him that night sparked a huge frustration inside him. Part of that frustration came from his hurt ego, he thought. Damian was a prince used to having everything he wanted in his hands before he even thought about wanting it, he could have any girl in the realm and even out of it if he snapped his fingers. Any girl in that realm, except Raven.

She had denied his approach twice, in just one day. She clearly despised him and wanted nothing more than to work with him to solve the attempted murder case and be able to finally escape to her forest again. No one denied him anything at all, but Raven had done so and something inside him stirred and hurt, as if trying to get out of his chest.

The other part of that frustration was a mix of feelings that Damian didn't know and was afraid to try to find out what it was. He wasn’t good with feelings, he had never exercised his social skills and wasn’t even deep in his own feelings. He has always been trained to suppress any other passionate feeling so that he doesn’t become a king driven by passion. His little contact with the outside world was the very few times he went to the market, the parties his mother gave in the palace hall, his brothers telling him stories about their adventures outside the palace gates or through _Maya Ducard_ , his only childhood friend and company.

He had never actually courted a girl or never kissed a girl's lips. Gods he didn't even know what to say to a girl who might spark some interest in him. And his strongest characteristic was the denial of any new feeling.

Damian Al Ghul would rather die from thousands of lacerations than admit that he cared or loved someone, even if that someone was a woman of interest or even someone in his family.

Not that he was admitting to having feelings for Raven, far from it.

Damian forced out a breath of frustration in the darkness of the birdhouse, forcing any feeling that threatened to grow in his chest to return to the darkness that it came from. He would find a logical reason for that, there was still the possibility that Raven was bewitching him, right? Damian pondered this while remembering the dance, how he couldn't take his eyes off how she moved and how the movements between them just flowed naturally. It was charming how they just fit in the middle of the room as if they had rehearsed for that moment their whole life.

This was definitely some kind of magic, it had to be some kind of magic and she had to be using magic on him.

Damian walked back into the hall, which was still busy with people dancing and having fun and drinking wine, ignoring the sound of the voice of one of his brothers calling him. He didn't want to stay there, he needed to rest and ponder everything that happened that day and prepare his own heart not to fall into Raven's charms so easily. That was certainly a game to see who would fall first and he had no intention of letting her win him.

He was a rock in terms of feelings.

He just asked a servant to tell Talia about his indisposition and headed for his room, his heart missing a beat as he passed the door to the room where he knew Raven would be. Damian stepped up and locked himself in his room, dismissing any vassal who followed him and tried to do their job to help him undress. He didn't need help to take his own clothes off, he needed silence and solitude from his room.

And a cold bath, the cold water always helped to put things in perspective.

Damian let the icy water relax his muscles and make his heart calm. He began to reflect on what had happened since the moment he danced with her in the hall. About how the words just came out of his lips when they were in the birdhouse, how he was intoxicated by the smell of lavender that came from her and how his heart beat fast when her hand rested on his chest. Every missed beat of his heart was because of her alone. It was all so fast that he couldn't tell where the emotion started and the reason ended, the only thing he had in mind was Raven's lips, and how beautiful she looked in that blue dress.

She really should stop using all those ties around her.

Damian snorted and got out of the bath after the considerable time he spent there, trying to put the pieces together in a rational way and almost without drying the water from his body, he threw himself on his bed. He wasn’t sleepy, it would probably be one of those nights when he would spend a lot of time awake with his head racing. He could hear the sound of the music still going on in the distant hall and wondered if Raven was already asleep or if she was also thinking about what had happened between them that night.

And finally overcome by the tiredness of his own mind, Damian ended up embracing sleep and once again, dreaming of Raven in his arms, dressed in green and gold.

Getting used to the idea of Raven in the palace over the next few days proved more torturing to Damian's heart than he had anticipated. His eyes wandered without him being able to control them whenever she was around. He always found himself taking a mental note of each of her graceful movements without him really wanting to notice them.

And that was driving him crazy.

They weren’t alone again after that night and Damian tried his best not to let it affect him. Raven always had someone with her as if she felt more secure and he started to wonder if he had done anything to deserve this type of treatment.

He wasn’t the type to care what his subjects thought of him, but something about Raven made him change that idea. Suddenly, what she thought or believed about him was all he could think about most of the day.

He couldn't take his eyes off her or stop thinking about her at any time and it was becoming difficult to hide it from his own family.

\- “You should send someone to paint a picture of her.” - Jason said stopping beside Damian, he must have been looking at her sitting among books in the low light of the library for at least 20 long minutes. Damian felt his cheeks heat up, so he just looked away reluctantly - “It would last longer than just staring at her.”

\- “Shut up Todd, I'm not staring at anyone.” - Damian grunted, reluctantly looking away from where Raven was before walking toward the bookshelves that ran from the floor to the ceiling of the library. He wasn't sure which book he was actually going to read, his mind panicked and went white when he saw Raven sitting in the low candlelight of the library. Wearing her long black hair up in a bun and a dress made of fine pink cotton fabric.

Even with a clear day and a scorching sun over them, the library built on the lower floor of the palace received so little light that it needed chandeliers and more chandeliers to illuminate the whole place. The whole image made Damian feel trapped, tied to a door, mesmerized by it.

His low voice and the sound of footsteps made Raven lift her head in the direction he was standing, with Jason right behind him and an idiotic smile on his lips.

Raven bit her bottom lip, trying to weigh within herself what she really wanted to do. It had been 26 days, 3 moons and 1440 minutes, and she still hadn't decided on what she really wanted to tell him.

Not that she was counting ...

Queen Talia's pregnancy was still healthy and soon she would give birth to a girl. Raven could feel the girl in her mother's womb and could feel every thought. The first moment she saw the queen she knew she was a girl and was happy when she heard that this was Talia's wish, but she was no longer able to walk around the palace and spent much of her time in her rooms Raven tried to stay there a few hours a day, because deep down, the queen was good company and they could talk for hours on any trivial matter.

And Raven took advantage of these long hours with the queen to avoid meeting Damian. She wanted to avoid the embarrassment that it would be to have to talk to him after quickly running away from something she didn't even know if he was really going to do.

Was he going to kiss her? Was he really going to kiss Raven on the lips and have her in his arms? Raven relieved his hand on the back of her neck and his breath against her skin every night since then, not knowing what it really felt like to think about it all.

And here he was, his hair with the long strands tied at the top of his head and a simple dark green tunic and black pants. Jason was walking behind him, chattering about something that she couldn't decipher, but her sixth sense made her believe that it was exactly about her. Raven swallowed the growl of frustration that threatened to rise in her throat. So much effort to run away from him to finally end up staying in a closed and poorly lit library with him.

Not that she was afraid, not that she couldn't defend herself, she just didn't know what she was capable of doing. She still hadn't decided on things that had been messing with her in the basement of her heart since the night at the birdhouse. Raven knew she should apologize for simply running away like a scared little girl and simply avoiding the prince all of those days, she just didn't know how to do it yet.

\- “You will end up missing the opportunity with her.” - Jason said leaning against a shelf, watching Damian's fingers dance on the spines of books and more books as to not seem interested in any way.

\- “There is no opportunity to be missed, Todd.” - Damian groaned while looking at a storybook his mother read to him when he was a child, from Alexander the Great. He wasn't really interested in reading that at all, but he didn't want to look like he was there just because of Raven.

\- “Don't give me that stupid denial, Damian. Before I completely understood the sexual thing you felt for her, you know, waking up in the middle of the night, having erotic dreams and stuff? I understood. But now I see that you are falling for her and you can't help it. You have been walking like a downcast puppy for the past few weeks and your eyes just look for her. If you don't take action, you’ll end up losing her.”

\- “I'm not acting like a dog, shut up.” - Damian murmured, giving Jason a flat look before putting the book on the shelf again - “I'm not falling for anyone. I'm not like you who gets involved with the first person who looks at you with interest like you and Grayson.”

\- “If you are not like us, Oh superior being... What was that at the party?” - Jason raised an eyebrow. No one had spoken to Damian about the dance in the hall and about him disappearing soon after Raven had left. No one, not even his mother, had brought up the subject. But everyone was whispering about the looks they exchanged and how Damian sometimes seemed lost in the amethysts in her eyes.

\- “I don't know what you're talking about.” - Damian said, trying to avoid looking at Jason. He had the feeling that if he looked at Jason something might get confessed and Damian didn't want to confess anything.

He wanted to forget all those feelings and all the frustration at watching Raven run away from him time after time..

\- “You know…” - Jason had a malicious smile on his lips, - “You don't dance with anyone, definitely not a commoner. The gods know how mommy tries to make you at least look at some girl or the effort she made to make you woo Maya Ducard. And then, one day that witch with milky skin and amethyst eyes appears and you change completely? Kick your well-known self-control to the moon and just dance one of the most sexually tense dances that these walls have ever known? Gods it was palpable the lust in you two... Mom must have at least 50 new white hairs just thinking that maybe, just maybe, you want that girl.”

\- “I... I don't know what you're talking about.” - Damian lied, of course he lied. He had dreamed for two weeks of Raven dancing for him dressed in green and gold and everything just got too out of control after that night.

He dreamed of her dancing for him every night, dreamed of her in his arms, dreamed of the smell of lavender and the taste of cherry she had. He dreamed of his name melting on her lips and that was much too much for him to deal with.

\- “And you disappeared after she ran away, you ran after her calling for her. The whole palace saw and all the girls who yearned for a chance to finally dance with you saw. And then, you pass the other weeks discreetly watching her from afar? Tell me now that you are in a free fall for this woman, it is not a crime.”

\- “Ah save me from this crap.” - Damian rolled his eyes - “There is nothing like that going on and if people saw things that aren’t true it is not my fault and I don't have any stupid feelings for anyone. It was just a dance with someone I will work with when I become king,.he is a palace witch, I am the future king... The end. Business is business and that's what it all meant.”

\- “Apparently, you are the king of denial before you are even king of anything” - Jason crossed his arms - “You don't want to stop being a pain in the ass and prefer to keep watching her from afar while mom tries to make her your sister in law? Great, I understand that you will explode if you say you like someone, but listen to my advice, brother. She is a beautiful and intelligent woman, and apparently she had the courage to kick your ass, face you and made you bow to her will with a simple apology. Any woman who can get this out of you deserves a chance to be the future queen of this kingdom.”

\- “Tsc.” - Damian clicked his tongue, rolling his eyes - “It's not denial... Is she an attractive and exotic woman? Yes. And I don’t deny that there is something about her that attracts me as surely it should attract other men like bees to honey. But there is nothing more than that.” - Damian said calmly, almost wanting to convince himself. - “Besides, she also feels that way, probably... She definitely sees me in the same way.”

\- “What are you saying? Wait... Did you just admit you think she's hot?”

\- “I'm not admitting anything!” - Damian hurried to say, looking distantly to where she had been sitting which was now empty. - “I'm simply stating facts. People find others physically attractive and she is a physically attractive person, that's all.”

\- “Wow... This is something new…”

\- “…”

\- “Don’t take my joy with your tongue clicking. You finally became a little man, wait until mom and dad know that finally you have a possible suitor!”

\- “One word about it and I’ll murder you.” - Damian said between his teeth.

\- “Wow…” - Raven's voice came from behind Jason, making both boys jump and Damian wanted to run without looking back - “You really love each other as brothers.”

\- “Not you too with this sentimental bullshit.” - Damian rolled his eyes.

\- “You know, little bird…” - Jason said with a smile - “I do everything for my little brother. Is there anything you needed?”

\- "Actually..." - She rocked on her feet and the pink dress brushed the floor. Damian tried his best not to catch every detail of her in that color, he didn't want to imagine her as the nymph she seemed to be and he didn't want to have reasons to draw her again. - “I wanted to talk to his majesty the prince.” - She pointed to Damian - “I... I have an important matter to discuss with him. If he can, of course?” 

\- “Hm…” - Jason nodded slowly - “Of course. Of course he can and he will. My little brother always has time for important matters to his... People. Especially with someone he insists on talking to. You know, to get to know better the person with whom he will work with in the future. 

\- “What?” - Raven blinked looking at Damian.

\- “Todd!” - Damian hit the book on his brother's head. He was definitely going to kill Jason at some point in his life. The idea of that poison now didn't seem like a bad idea.

\- “Ouch!” - Jason growled, smoothing his hand where Damian had hit, but stifling a laugh as he watched his brother's cheeks gain a shade of red that went up to his ears and went down to the back of the neck - “Next time you hit me with something I swear it will be the last time you will be able to hit me with something.”

\- “The next time you talk too much I will murder you.”

\- “Go ahead and try it now, little brother.”

\- “Okay, you two are really in a dispute over who is the peacock with the biggest plumage here?” - Raven said, smiling and raising her hands as she turned again. - “I can come back later.”

\- “No!” - Jason and Damian said instantly.

\- “We are not fighting about anything.” - Damian said, adjusting himself and trying to give an unaffected look as he felt his heart beat a thousandth of a second. She didn't need to know about his passionate side wanting to take over. - “Todd was just leaving…”

\- “I was?” - Jason looked at Damian with a confused look, trying his best to hide the laugh that formed when he saw his younger brother try to dissipate him as far away and as fast as he could. He was in love and he couldn't help showing it even if he lived in denial.

Raven hadn’t only kicked his ass, she had taken Damian's heart of stone with her and now, the boy was suffering with something he couldn't understand. But Jason understood and was going to help.

Whether Damian accepted his help or not.

\- “Yes, you were, my brother…”

\- “Hm” - Jason scratched his chin thoughtfully - “Ah! Of course, I need to take care of matters. Princely matters.”

\- “Neither of us cares what you have to do, Todd.”

\- “Wow, all this just to be alone with a girl.” - Damian opened his mouth and closed it again, choosing to hit Jason with the book again, who now gave a loud laugh - “hey! I'm not lying!”

\- “Shut up and get out of here Jason!”

\- “Okay.” - Jason said, still trying to control his laughter while smoothing where Damian had hit before - “This time I'm going to let it go just because Raven is here.” - Damian rolled his eyes, trying to make his cheeks stop blushing. Jason smiled and started walking towards the exit, before turning around again - “Hm, see you around, little bird.”

\- “See you around, Jason.”

\- “Behave yourself, okay? This is a library, not a bedroom. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!”

\- “Jason…”

\- _“Get out of here.”_ \- Jason laughed before turning around and disappearing through the door. The awkward silence between Damian and Raven gradually filled the space between them again.

Damian licked his lips and watched Raven. He was very good with reading body language, his father had taught him this from a very early age and something about the way she was, screamed at him that she was nervous.

Raven looked at every corner of the library except for him. She rocked a little on her heels and her chest slowly rose and fell, as if she were taking a few deep breaths before taking any action that she might regret later.

But why did she look so nervous and ashamed?

\- “Mm…” - Damian turned back towards the bookcase, pretending to be interested in the spines of the books - “So, any progress in discovering the Jinni? Any new information I should know?”

\- “Hmm... No. I... I made little progress. The books are in a language I wasn’t taught so it is difficult to translate with the scrolls I have.” - She bit her lower lip - “But, I'll try to have something as soon as possible.”

\- “I could help.” - Damian muttered still without looking at her - “I know the languages of the book. My mother made me read every book in this library. If you had just asked…”

\- “I don’t want to be a bother.”

\- "And yet I thought I heard you say that we would work on it together." Damian asserted, trying not to let his injured ego poison his tone. He didn't want to look like he wanted to work with her, even though deep down, he couldn't help not wanting to be away from her - “Anyway…” - He turned to her again, his eyes locked on the two beautiful, glistening amethyst stones she had for eyes - “What did you want to talk to me about?”

\- “I... I wanted to apologize to you, your majesty.” - She said calmly, her voice unaltered - “I... I don't have the best social skills, my life was meant to be locked inside a room having contact only with Azar, my mother and the monks. I... I shouldn't have avoided you. That night... things got too intense for me.”

\- “Raven I-”

\- “I felt a lot of the guests' feelings, that poisoned me. I needed to rest before doing something that I might regret.” - Raven said quickly, she didn't want him to think she was saying that things got too intense between them.

It was exactly what she was thinking, but it was something that came out of her lips without her controlling it.

Damian looked at her in silence for a few seconds, his green eyes seemed to scan the depths of her soul, seeing every broken part she had inside. It was uncomfortable how he made her feel restless and exposed.

\- “What do you mean, _‘you might regret’_?”

\- “Fire…” - Raven hurried to say - “I was using fire magic and this is an unstable and hungry magic, an energy that depends on absolute attention so that it does not get out of control. Any oversight and a fire is provoked.”

\- “Raven…” - Damian had a dark and low voice, he wanted to approach her and say that there was no fire there, but he knew that the moment his feet moved, she would run away again.

\- “That's why I had to retire to my room. I couldn't risk burning the aviary and I was overwhelmed and unable to concentrate. I... I should have apologized before, I just didn't know how to do this.”

\- “You didn't know how?” - Damian raised his eyebrows in surprise. Was she really embarrassed to apologize to him? More and more questions were forming in his head. Damian could feel his heart melting in his chest just to see her cheeks turn colored like a ripe tomato.

\- “No, I didn't know.” - She crossed her arms over her chest - “The monks taught me some languages, taught me mathematics, taught me astrophysics, astrology, and chemistry. They taught me how to heal people, how to control my powers and how to use them to defend myself. They just didn't teach me how to make... friends.” - Raven let out a relieved breath, feeling lighter after her embarrassing half confession. She didn't need to talk about the feelings that had blossomed in her since, nor that she had been trying to nip them in the bud by ignoring him almost all the time. The only thing he needed to know was that she wasn’t as good at social interactions as she appeared to be and that those interactions could be dangerous.

Damian pondered for a few seconds, his eyebrows coming together as if he were studying her again, trying to find something to attack and Raven thought of various ways to just erase that conversation and disappear, until he relaxed his shoulders and rolled his eyes, returning to look at the books on the shelf.

\- “It's all right.”

\- “It's all right?”

\- “Yes. You needed to rest when you arrived at the palace and ended up having to face a party full of people whispering about you. As I said that night, we should have remembered that you are an empath, I shouldn’t have put pressure on you at the birdhouse.” - He said while taking _Moby Dick_ to read - “I understand about being deprived of social skills and that could have put us in danger. But, you thought fast before doing something that as you said, _you could regret.”_ \- Raven noticed a tone of bitterness in his voice.

\- “Dami-Majesty…” - Raven started to say and then he raised a finger, asking her to wait for him to finish speaking. 

\- “You didn't want to cause a fire and with your attention unsettled by... _The party_. You couldn't keep things at bay, nothing more. There was no other reason for you to go to your room to rest instead of staying in a room full of animals that you weren’t really interested in. And I respect that.” 

Raven opened her mouth and closed it again a few times, trying to find the words that didn’t coherently form in her mind. Was he talking about the almost kiss? Or was he trying to put a stone on top of what could have happened? It was hard to read between the lines when the green in his eyes made her feel like she was drowning. 

It was as if the walls around his feelings grew every time she tried to pass and they pushed her deeper. She felt she was never going to get to the bottom of who he really was, who he really could be without that mask of indifference. 

But as Azar had once said, the eyes were mirrors of the soul and in Damian's eyes, Raven saw something broken. Something she couldn't understand. 

Damian raised an eyebrow, waiting for a response from Raven and then she felt a tug inside herself reminding her that it wasn’t polite to ignore people when they were speaking to her. Especially someone from royalty and that she had also prevented from kissing her that night thinking it had been a wise decision. 

He would certainly regret it if she had left with the feelings she had tried to elicit since the first time she saw him, it would be strong enough to break her heart. 

Raven would rather die than have her heart broken. 

\- “Um... Right?” - Raven nodded, feeling confused as to what he was referring to - “So... Is everything okay then?” 

\- “Everything is great.” - He slammed the book shut with a loud bang and turned on his heels to look at her again - “We go back to what we had agreed upon before, I treat you civilly and we work together to find out who tried to kill me. No distractions or stupid parties to make you nervous again.” - Damian took a deep breath - “So, what book were you trying to read?” 

Raven tilted her head still wondering, she was going to replay that conversation in her head for several nights, she was sure of that and it didn't help that she dreamed of him almost every night. 

Gods, he would be her death and the cause would be to think too much about what Damian Al Ghul meant. 

Raven stifled a laugh, who did she want to fool? The cause would be Damian Al Ghul and only him. 

\- “This one.” - She held up a green-covered book with gold accents. He frowned and then took the book in his hands and Raven felt electricity run down her arm where his fingers brushed hers. 

\- “Ummm... Of course. I can help you with this book.” 

\- “Actually I was thinking about taking a break to eat something.” - She gave a weak smile - “If your majesty doesn't mind. I haven't eaten anything yet because I was trying to read all of these books. But I think I'm not going anywhere if my attention is on controlling my stomach so that it doesn't make an embarrassing noise.” 

\- “Ah... Of course, you can go to the kitchen.” - Damian mumbled while leafing through the book she had handed him. - “Pennyworth will be more than happy to make a feast for you.” 

\- "Actually, I was wondering if you couldn't keep me company?" - Raven said with a shrug and Damian lifted his head almost instantly. - “We could discuss what you have read about the Jinni or the little I know about this kind of magic.” 

\- “Oh…” - Damian tilted his head thoughtfully and then shook his head away from the thoughts that were beginning to arise in his mind. He didn't want his mind to travel to the wrong ideas about what she was proposing. 

Her saying that she was trying to avoid something she might regret later had been more than enough for him to make sure those feelings were a mistake and that he should drown them. 

\- “If you have other princely duties that is fine, we can talk about it another time and-” 

\- “No, I have nothing important to do.” - Damian hurried to say, was it so difficult to control the things that come out of his mouth? - “I mean, of course I can accompany you, we can discuss about the... _Jinni_.” 

\- “Great!” - Raven said with a smile that lit up every dark path in Damian's heart. He swallowed and tried not to let his expression give away his inner mess. He was still in an internal battle to hide those things and the will to find out what they meant. 

It was a battle he lost every time she smiled like that. 

Raven held out her arm for him to hold, completely ignoring the chill that went down her spine as she felt the warmth of his skin over the dress she wore. He was so hot, like a day in the desert, and Raven felt feverish around him. There was that feeling again that neither of them tried to figure out what it was, and it was so palpable that Raven could feel it in her hands. 

In those two weeks after Raven met him and he almost killed her, she thought it was just a sexual attraction. He was handsome and hot and after 17 years isolated from the world, it was normal for her to feel that way when she saw someone like him. 

But after the banquet night and ignoring the looks he gave her and ignoring how her heart beat when he was around, Raven was no longer sure that it was just a stupid attraction. There was a new, warm, good feeling deep inside, struggling to grow on her walls. 

She just didn't think it prudent to let it grow, so she pulled out all the roots that always tried to come back. 

Raven would pull them out as many times as needed. She always had to remind herself that her destiny was evil and that feelings weren’t for her. The slightest hint of something good growing inside her meant trouble. She didn't want any problems, and feelings for Damian were a problem that she should avoid like the plague. 

Raven groaned to herself, throwing herself on the bed at the end of that day, trying to force that silly smile wanting to grow on her lips when she remembered every detail beside Damian that day. 

Oh… 

_May the gods pity her poor soul._


	10. Chapter 9

_**Weeks later** _

_"You may be insufferable, but in your heart you are a kind and generous soul."_

Damian snorted, remembering the last conversation he had with Raven and how she seemed to read every line inside his heart, as if his chest was open and exposed for her to dissect with just those big, beautiful amethyst eyes.

In the days that followed, they spent hours and hours together dissecting books in the library. When they were free of their chores, the queen even encouraged Raven to become Damian's right-hand. She knew that her son needed strong alliances for when he was king and knew that he needed friends he could trust.

She just didn't count on the fact that both teens had been harboring feelings for each other in secret as they got closer and closer in the weeks that followed. She didn't count on Damian smiling more often without realizing it when Raven was around or that Raven blushed when she heard Damian's voice near her.

Queen Talia didn’t count on the variables of her plan to make a strong alliance with someone as powerful as Raven, to eventually unleash a pure feeling of admiration for each other and without them or anyone in that palace realizing it Raven and Damian would fall for one another more and more every day that passed, even if they tried to avoid it.

But Damian was sleepless that night, he had spent the day with his father checking out guard training and training himself with Lord Duncan and hardly saw Raven all day. He thought that the tiredness of an entire day in activities would leave him exhausted enough to sleep. But the truth is that he couldn’t close his eyes and just sleep so he decided to read a few more books that Raven had asked him to translate. There were maps that he still didn’t know for sure where they led to and were from places long before his grandfather settled in those lands, cave maps that he didn’t know where it were and his reading with Raven only took them to walls and some spells that didn't help much.

Apparently, that land was a magical place and he didn't even know about it.

Damian was sitting by the window, sunk in maps when he looked out the window watching a black bird perch on the window of his bedroom and its head tipped to the side as if waiting for something. Damian reached out and stroked the bird's feathers on his head before he simply flew in the moonlight, his long, dark wings spread as he flew in the light of the crescent moon high in the dark starry sky.

Suddenly, Damian felt his heart squeeze and something fall on his head with the weight of an anvil. That bird was a crow and it was Raven.

_Raven._

He didn't know how, he just knew it was her and that something was wrong with everything.

He pondered for a few minutes if she was in trouble to go out at that time of night in her bird form and if he should go after her to find out what had happened. Last time things hadn't gone well, he almost kissed her and she had told him that she didn't want to do something that she would regret later and he didn't know how much he could bear to hear her say that again.

The admiration he had denied to himself had grown stronger since they spent more time together unraveling the magic that had surrounded the citadel since the beginning of time. And it was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore that warmth that grew in his chest every time he looked at her and found her jeweled eyes lost in something.

Lost in _his eyes_.

He didn't want to find out what that warmth in his chest meant, although deep, deep down he knew what it meant. Damian shook his head and forced himself to look at the maps again determined to leave Raven alone. Maybe she needed those moments when she could close off completely, she had said something about the next full moon and he had learned that sometimes, the best way to help her was to stay away. This time he wouldn't be moved by a silly feeling, this time he wouldn't run after her desperately, despite his heart screaming at him that he should do so.

Damian was determined to do that by the time he heard movement outside his room. Jason, Tim, Dick and Roy were instructing four guards at Raven's bedroom door while Bruce held Talia's hand and told his sisters to take her to her room. The baby was only a few days away and the entire palace was 100% focused on protecting its queen and the baby.

Damian's chest tightened, thinking about what might have happened. Would she have been hurt? Or hurt someone? Damian didn't want to think that his initial suspicions were correct and Raven was someone sent inside to kill them, not now that he had felt new things because of her.

\- “Look everywhere…” - Jason said to the guard - “Whoever did this shouldn’t be far away.”

\- “What happened?” - Damian said, trying not to make the concern and panic color his voice

\- “I think someone attacked Raven…” - Steph said, crossing her arms. - “I had gone for a glass of milk and when I was coming back I heard a scream coming from her room. I tried to open the door but it was stuck so I called Bruce and Jay.”

\- “When we managed to open the door, she was no longer here and the room was overturned. Didn't you hear anything, Dami?”

\- “No…” - Damian divulged, looking at the things completely overturned inside the room that once belonged to Raven. - “I didn't hear anything, but I think I saw Raven leaving.”

\- “What?”

\- “It's complicated, but I saw her leaving... Or I think I saw her leaving.” - Damian uttered, thinking about how he would best explain telling them she had turned into a bird and gone to his room. It wasn't a good idea to just say that a single girl had gone to his room in the middle of the night, even though she was in a bird form. - “Uh... I'll go look for her.”

\- "We've already assigned soldiers for that." Bruce said, his voice dark and firm.

\- “No, I saw her leaving, I saw the direction she went.”

\- “If this is a second attack I cannot allow you to leave alone Damian. Go back to your room, this is an order!”

\- “I'm sorry father, but this time I must disobey you. I know how to defend myself better than you think and I’m the one who saw her leaving.” - Damian insisted, turning again towards his room and taking his sword. - “I fought in a damn war, I'm not made of glass and I'm not going to be stuck in this palace while someone who is part of this court is in danger.”

\- “Damian-”

\- “I’ve made up my mind, father.” - Damian turned to Roy, - “Watch the palace... Mobilize the troops!” - Damian ordered, passing by everyone. - “We don't know what actually happened, or if it was really an attack. Look for anything suspicious and for any person who is suspicious. Todd, Drake, search the forest, she may have gone to her hut. Cassandra Cain and Father, look east. Brown, stay in alert with my mother, if something suspicious appears, don’t hesitate to attack. And don’t touch anything in this room, we do not know if there is anything poisoned again.”

\- “And you just go alone? What if this is a trap?”

\- “I don’t care.”

\- “I care…” - Bruce grabbed Damian's shoulder preventing him from leaving. - “I almost lost a son, I won't risk losing you too. I order you to stay in the palace!”

\- “And I'm making a decision as the future leader of this damn realm” - Damian said between his teeth - “I... I understand that I'm being arduous, I don't trust her, I know I may be going straight into a trap, but the concern here is not who goes with whom! The concern is finding the witch. We need to find Raven!”

\- “Damian... You-”

\- “Let him go, beloved.” - Talia finally said - “Damian is right, we need to find her. He saw her going somewhere and while we are discussing strategies, she may be in danger out there.” - She looked at Damian for a moment, seeing the look in her son's green eyes. Could Damian finally be getting attached to someone?

\- "And I'm going with Damian," - Dick said, passing Bruce and stopping beside Damian. - "He's not going anywhere alone."

\- “I'm not a child!”

\- “So don't act like one. Don't be burdensome and irresponsible.”

\- “Tt”

\- "Dad, he'll be safe, I promise. And if in two hours we have no answer as to Raven's whereabouts or that which may have caused it, we go back to the courtyard and set up a larger search group... _No exceptions_!" - Dick said, turning to Damian. - “Prepare the soldiers, Commander Harper. This is going to be a long night.”

Bruce took a tired breath and looked at Damian and then nodded, giving Dick a look that said it all: _be careful_. Damian rolled his eyes and started walking again, with Dick on his heels as he heard everyone else prepare to look for whatever had happened. He felt guilty for not having noticed when the bird entered his window, guilty for not preventing her from going away and guilty for not having heard anything.

As they walked in silence through the palace courtyard, all Damian could think about was what could have done that to her? What could have forced her to leave the palace at that time of night? Damian kept walking with a sense of determination and his sword drawn. His eyes getting used to the night, and the only sounds being heard were that of crickets chirping and his and Dick's footsteps behind him. It was a warm night and there was a light, cool breeze in the air. Damian was aware of everything around him and the sound of his heart hammered painfully loud in his ears. He was so worried about her. So concerned about what might have happened that he couldn't think of anything but her in danger. His heart only stopped beating in painfully when he saw her not far from the palace, near the garden maze, at the foot of the fountain.

She was wearing the same white cotton dress that she was wearing when he found her in the cabin. Her hair was in a long, tousled braid and her eyes were red and swollen as she sighed, looking like she was crying. Damian's heart ached against his chest at the thought of the possibility of her being hurt or injured. She was hugging her legs, one hand inside the fountain holding one of the petals.

\- “Raven!” - Damian said dropping the sword and running towards her. Raven looked up in the direction that he had called from at the same moment that Damian hauled her up and pulled her into his arms, not caring at all who was looking and not realizing he was breaking propriety by doing this.

\- “Majesty...?” - Raven murmured as she felt warm, strong arms pulling her from the floor and the unmistakable aroma of cinnamon and spices.

\- “Are you alright? Are you hurt? Did someone do something to you?”

\- “Uh... No...?”

\- "Oh gods." - Dick was standing a few steps behind the youth, his eyebrows raised as he watched Damian sink his hands into her waist and hair. Raven's eyes were red and her cheeks were wet as if she were crying. They stood there in silence for a long 10 minutes, before Damian stiffened and walked away quickly, his cheeks turning so red and hot that Dick was almost sure he could fry an egg on them.

The pieces in Dick's head came together almost instantly. Damian was hopelessly and unmistakably falling in love with Raven no matter how much he denied it. Suspicion had always been there from the first moment he, Tim and Jason had bet who would be right first. But now it was all too clear, they had gotten so very close in the past few weeks. And Dick suddenly realized how he always saw them talking together and of all the times he heard low laughter coming from the library, and the looks they exchanged when they had been away from each other.

Dick just didn't know if Damian had taken any steps to declare himself or if he were still in denial of his own feelings.

\- “Um... So…”

\- “Are you alright? Please, tell me!” - Damian's voice sounded broken, he was about two steps away from Raven and again he asked, - “Did something happen? Did someone hurt you?”

\- “I…” - Raven staggered and looked at the two looking at her confused, then looked at the sword on the floor - “I'm fine... Why?”

\- “Your room.” - Dick said, - “It was all overturned and Stephanie heard you screaming.”

\- “Ah…” - Raven cringed, scratching her arm - “I’m... It's okay... You shouldn't have worried about me.”

\- “We thought you had been attacked, that we were in danger again.” - Damian swallowed hard - “We thought you had been taken.”

\- “Oh…”

\- “Well…” - Dick said with a smile on his lips, thinking of a reason to leave. He definitely didn't have a vocation for a teen couple’s nanny - “Apparently it's just a big mistake and we're not under attack. I'll let them know that we've found Raven and that she's okay. Will you take her back, little brother?”

\- “Go, Grayson.” - Damian murmured without taking his eyes off Raven - “I... I need answers.”

\- “Okay.” - Dick smiled and came close to Damian whispering - “Take it easy okay?” - Damian gave Dick a flat stare and Dick just smiled, walking back to the palace, leaving Raven and Damian alone, the only sound between them being gushing water from the fountain.

Damian licked his lip trying to find what to say. He had so many questions, so many things came to mind and he didn't know where to start. Why did she run away? Why was her room a disaster? Why did she go to his room before running away? Why was she crying? He just couldn't formulate the sentences.

\- “I'm sorry. I... I shouldn't have done that.” - Raven said and then took a deep breath, letting it out slowly - “I just... I needed to be alone.”

\- “ You have no idea of the things that went through my head.”

\- “You shouldn't worry about me.”

\- “I worry about anyone who is inside that palace. They are my responsibility, my family.” - Damian confessed like a wounded animal - “I...thought you were in danger. That my mother, my father and my siblings were in danger. What I saw happen to Todd, I don't want to see it happen to anyone... Not even you.”

\- “I’m sorry.”

\- “What happened?”

\- “A nightmare. They were... Omens... From my father.”

\- “Did you destroy your room and run away because of a nightmare?”

\- “Yes.” - Raven took an anxious breath - “My powers were out of control, I needed to get out, I was afraid I would unintentionally hurt someone. For some reason, this water brings me the peace I need, so I came here.”

\- “You went to my room.” - Damian said - “You landed in my room... Why?”

\- “For some reason I don't understand, I needed to come to you.”

\- "What did you dream about? What kind of omen was it? And...what about your father?"

Raven bit her bottom lip and turned back to the fountain again. Her eyes locked on the water gushing between yellow and red rose petals, silvered with moonlight above them. Damian walked over to Raven again, closing the distance he had created between them. He waited but Raven said nothing and for some reason, he knew that silence would be the only answer he would have at that moment.

Minutes passed, the sounds of the water calming his heart that started to beat with the force of a hammer in his chest when he felt her fingertips touching his fingers lightly, like the breeze.

\- “This is the first time I have seen a fountain so white and with water so pure.” - Raven said with a side smile breaking the silence. - “I mean, a fountain built by men, not by nature.”

\- “What do you mean, _first time_?” - Damian raised an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side to look at Raven

\- “Uh…” - She steeled herself, looking for a way to explain - “Greece has beautiful fountains, Rome too but... they are not of pure water. From the place where I came from there was a fountain in the middle of the main courtyard, white and marble. Really beautiful, there is a sculpture by Master Azar in the center and the water has gushed out since my people existed” - Raven gathered her courage and she was silent, her eyes darkened as she seemed to dig into the memories. - “Mom once said that the water in the fountain was never the same after I was born.”

\- “What do you mean by that?” - Damian questioned, turning to her with a raised eyebrow. There was something about her tone that made Damian's heart break. Something about her broken voice that made him feel like he wanted to wrap his arms around her and say that everything would be okay.

There was something about her that had activated that protective side of him for the past few weeks and it would consume him until there was nothing left. Like fire engulfing and consuming everything that it could inside him. He had never felt this way about anyone other than his family and he still wondered about his instinctual attitude of holding her for the first time, lowering any of his defenses.

Raven took a deep breath, a lonely tear streaming back down her cheek in the light of the full moon above them.

\- “I…” - She started, seeming skittish - “I shouldn't be here... I shouldn't have come to your world.” - Raven said this without looking at Damian, eyes locked on the water gushing from the fountain that filled the silence between them. Damian opened his mouth to try to say something, but closed it again when he realized he didn't really know what to say. He knew so little about her that he couldn't imagine what she meant by that. He nodded slowly, encouraging her to continue speaking. - “You were right to fear me from the start, you should fear me... because I am dangerous.”

\- “What? No, you’re-”

\- “My father is a demon, majesty…” - Raven interrupted him - “My powers come from him, they are unstable because of that part of my nature.”

\- “Wait, your father is an actual... Demon?” - Damian had heard stories about demonic rituals, but he always thought they were ancient legends to scare unbelieving people or little children. Gradually, the pieces fit into Damian's head. This explained why she was an empath, it explained the change in her eye color, her skin color and the marks that grew in an ancient rune form when she used her powers. This explained her nature, why she had strong power and why she could change into the shape of a bird. Why she was able to heal people with nothing more than a mantra and a show of black and purple energy in her hands - “How...? Your mother... Did she...?”

\- “No... My mother is a perfectly ordinary witch.” - Raven smiled crookedly, - “She is human, but when she was my age she was a girl who wanted more than just being a witch. She ended up falling in with a stupid cult where they tried to summon the devil. I don't think they even believed what was happening when the figure came out of the smoke.” - She took a deep breath, - “It is safe to say that the marriage of a human to a demon is not healthy, he conquered her, he showed himself to be kind and affectionate. He made her love him until he had her complete trust and my mother, innocent and stupid, believed it all, then... He... He…” - Raven couldn't finish what she was saying. 

The words were stuck in her throat and she couldn't get them out. It hurt to know that who Raven was was the result of her mother's pain, of something that had marked Angela for the rest of her life.

\- “He forced her…”

\- “For tireless and painful nights... until she was pregnant. So, he kept my mother trapped in hell, she could barely stand the horrors she saw there. In the fifth month of pregnancy my mother ran away from my father and when she did, she could barely look at herself. She tried to kill herself, she couldn't even look at her pregnant belly without remembering what had happened to her. I did it. I made my mom almost kill herself…”

\- “You didn't do that, Raven. You didn't force your mother to have you, it wasn’t you, it was your father.”

\- Well ...my mother couldn't look at herself while I was growing in her womb, so she tried to commit suicide a few times but was never successful. She felt ashamed and alone until she was saved when she was welcomed by the people of Azarath, a peaceful people who live between this and another dimension. - Raven took another deep shaky breath, swallowing the lump in her throat as furious tears flowed down her face. - I am the result of this. Of my mother's pain, of the horror she went through. I am not good, I am dangerous and you were right to fear me. I found this out when I touched her hand and asked about my father. I was just a child. I never asked for these powers! I never asked to be born!”

Damian fell into a shocked, thoughtful silence for a moment 

\- “My mother told me about this sorceress from a distant place called Azarath, who came and helped her to conceive and save my kingdom... Azar... Right?”

\- “Azar is our grandmaster. When I was born, I was a child as powerful as my father, Lord Trigon, the conqueror of worlds. My crying almost destroyed Azarath. It poisoned our air with sulfur, made the water in the fountain stay dark, and broke columns in the meditation temples. Some Azarathians wanted me to be thrown out of their gates, I had ended the peace of that place, I was a mistake there. But Azar welcomed me, she took me from my mother. She took me from my mother so that I could be trained, isolated and controlled and helped me grow and learn to control my powers. But...I have my father's nature inside of me. I think I’m really like him…”

\- “No, you aren’t!” - Damian said, without controlling the things that came from his mouth - “You may have his blood running through you, but you are not like him. You wouldn’t use your powers to help people without expecting anything in return if you were like him.”

\- “You don’t really know me.”

\- “I know enough…” - Damian stretched his fingers letting them intertwine with hers, he didn't want to control this feeling between them anymore and this time, he wouldn't let her get away. This time, he would make her feel secure, hold her tight, right there next to him.

Raven looked at his hand holding hers, then she looked into his eyes, waiting for some explanation for his action. He had never really touched her that way, not in the weeks that they got closer or at any other time. Her heart missed a beat when she felt his gaze on her when she finally met his eyes.

\- “Majesty…”

\- “Call me Damian…” - He whispered.

\- “Wouldn't it be disrespectful to refer to you by name? And not by the title?”

\- “There is no one here to discover this, we are alone.”

\- “I...think we should keep things as they are…”

\- “If I can no longer call you a witch, then at least call me by my own name when we are alone.” - He held his breath waiting for her response.

\- “Fine… But, It doesn't matter anywayr.” - She huffed out a frustrated breath, - “I definitely shouldn't be here.”

\- “Why?”

\- ”I am not made for good things, Maj-Damian.” - She corrected herself closing her eyes - “I put you in danger by coming here. I now understand why I was locked up all my life, why I was never allowed to meet people and why I was forbidden to create emotional bonds with anyone. I am the door for my father to enter this dimension and he will not hesitate to use me to hurt these bonds that I have now created.”

\- “I don’t believe that.”

\- “You didn't see what I saw, Damian. I almost lost control from a nightmare because he showed me what he is going to do with the people of earth, with your family… With you…” - Raven let go of his hand and looked at him - “He will destroy everything I have come to care about, everyone I have dared to hold dear in my heart. What he wants... He will destroy every single part of me until there is nothing left but a door for him to break through. I need to go.” - She lamented with resignation.

\- "Raven, that was a nightmare, just a nightmare, that’s all it was." - He reached out a shaky hand towards Raven's cheek and caressed it gently, wiping the silver trail that the tear had left on her cheek with his thumb. He didn't quite know what his gesture meant, but he was glad to see that Raven leaned in to his touch, just as she did when he stroked her feathers when she was like a bird in his bedroom window.

\- “It was an omen, a warning.” - She took a deep, quivering breath. - “The full moon is coming and It's a mystical moon.”

\- “Nothing will happen. It was a nightmare and just that. I'm right here Raven, and I’m not leaving you.”

\- “Damian…” - Her voice was a whisper - “This... This is wrong.”

\- “What is wrong? You having people who take care of you? You don't have to face things alone.”

\- “I…” - Her voice failed - “I’m sorry, I need to go back to my hut, I will gather my belongings and in the morning I will try to return to Azarath.”

\- “Raven…”

\- “It is the best for everyone, Trigon cannot enter Azarath and Azar will surely know how to solve the Jinni problem for your family without me putting you in more danger.” - Raven affirmed to herself, ignoring Damian's protests. Raven took Damian's hand and pulled it away from her face, taking a few steps back while mumbling misunderstood phrases. Damian growled and took her arm, pulling her to his chest again, forcing her to look at him. Raven, unbalanced, grabbed his clothes, her fingers clutched tightly in the tunic he wore and her cheeks quickly flushed.

Her rational side screamed for her to run and disappear like the last time she fled from him, but her sentimental side was strong enough to hold her there, trapped in his arms. Raven shuddered and looked at him, waiting for him to say something. But she felt too dizzy with the heat that emanated from the contact with his body, with his fast heartbeat under her palm mixing with her own heartbeat.

\- "Look at me, Raven..." - Damian pleaded, her breath caught in her throat. - “You will not run away again because nothing will happen to you. Nobody will hurt you, not even your demonic father… Not under my watch.” - Raven swallowed, feeling her legs get like gelatin when she heard his voice, dangerous, low, dark and obstinate. She felt every inch of her shiver and the heart beating in her chest intensified in an almost unbearable way and Raven found herself just nodding, her eyes locked on his.

He leaned his forehead against hers and brought one calloused hand to her face again. His gaze followed each movement of his fingers as he seemed to memorize the curve of her jaw, the pointed shape of her chin, the pink color of her lips, and the softness and pallor of her skin. He drew her lips with his fingers, feeling his breath catch in his throat as he felt her warm breath against his skin.

She was so beautiful. Damian needed to touch her to know that she was real and not one of those dreams he had in which he woke up in the middle of the night, panting and anxious.

_She looked like a dream._

Damian took a moment to breathe her in and closed his eyes, inhaling the lavender scent that emanated from her. He was uncertain as to whether it was right to kiss her. Raven had already made it clear before that it was a mistake. There was still part of him that shouted in his head what he had heard all his life, about controlling his feelings, but he was inundated by everything and he was overwhelmed by her.

Everything was too much.

Damian opened his eyes, trying to find what he really wanted to say to her, but his hesitant words died on his tongue the moment Raven slowly tilted her head to the side and gave him a light kiss on his thumb and her hands went to his face. He didn't know what to do, but he would learn.

He was a quick student.

Slowly, Damian let his lips capture hers in an exploratory way, still trying to learn what was right. He felt every nerve ending in his body ignite and burn, it was like he was on fire but it felt good. He would burn until the day he died and he wouldn't care if it meant kissing Raven once more.

He moved a few slightly away just so he could look at Raven again and keep that memory in his mind before he kissed her again, this time deepening the kiss further. That warm feeling he had grew and expanded in size until it filled his entire chest. Starting from his first hair on his head to the tips of his toes, and Damian felt as if his heart could explode from the sensation. He didn't need to overthink this anymore, not now that everything seemed clear to him.

Not now that her lips felt like they were made just for him.

The truth finally seemed to appear before them, as if two worlds collided, creating an entire constellation in their eyes. Damian felt his heart beat in perfect harmony with the world around him, the moment Raven's lips met his .

He really felt something for her and it ran deep throughout his soul. His stubborn nature didn't want to admit it, but the truth was right there in front of him. Tattooed on his heart with hot coals.

Damian slid his hands to the nape of her neck. His hands tangling in her disheveled hair and Raven wrapped her arms around his shoulders, letting her fingers tangle through the strands of his hair. And for a minute or an eternity, time had no meaning and they stayed like that, staring into each other’s eyes. The only thing that was heard was water gushing from the fountain and the sound of two hearts beating as one.

Raven wanted nothing but Damian, no one but him. Like millions of galaxies opening up in her eyes, she felt he was hers before they were even born. Their souls were intertwined by the lines of fate and she had fought all that time against something she had no control over.

She would fall for him because he was her destiny.

And because of that, Azar had told her to look for that family, and that was why she was able to leave Azarath. It was her destiny to find him in all their lives, past and future. She could love him until the day he died if they met at the right time. And gods, she could hear the bells ringing in her head. The damn bells she'd been avoiding.

She was right, the moment his lips found hers she would have to admit those feelings she had been trying to drown in her chest. Now they were stronger and consequential and she would no longer have the strength to pull him out of her chest. Even if it hurt, even if it wasn't reciprocal, she would let it grow in her heart because that good feeling reminded her of who she really was: a human.

Damian pulled away from her, giving kisses before smiling with his eyes locked on Raven's lips. And Raven couldn't help but smile back, her breath hitched, with a sparkle in her eyes and the millions of unanswered questions in her mind.

\- "I'm... I'm sorry." - He whispered, unable to move away from her, his hand still caressing Raven's cheek.

\- “Don't be sorry. I wanted this more than I could imagine.” - Raven slid her hands to touch his hand and gave a light and soft kiss on his callused and warm palm, closing her eyes to let the aroma of cinnamon fill every corner of her being again and overload her system.

She was right, she was going to die and the cause would be him and she would die happy.

\- "This is good because...I'm going to kiss you again." - Damian said with a smile so beautiful that Raven couldn't do anything other than let him kiss her again, carrying her even higher in the clouds of cinnamon and spice.

\- “We should go back.” - She said breathlessly after capturing each of the kisses he gave her. Raven kissed his knuckles and he nodded with a smile, but none of them were able to move while they still flew in a cloud of new, hot and growing feelings. They exchanged a few more quick kisses and Raven didn't know if the heat she felt was related to the hot temperature that night or if it was her body burning for Damian.

She was almost sure that the most likely option would be the second.

When they finally made it back to planet Earth and the sounds, colors and smells around them became more than their eyes or the mixed scent of cinnamon and lavender, Damian gave Raven his arm as they walked back to the palace. By the position of the moon it should have been about 2 am and they both needed a break to put their thoughts in order Even if they didn't dare talk about it and even if the silly smiles and flushed cheeks and dilated pupils said a lot about what they were feeling.

They walked in silence and Damian had to use every ounce of his will to keep from holding Raven's hand, interlacing his fingers and kissing her again. Now that he had succeeded, he never wanted to stop. All things were left behind. All the feelings of mistrust, all the anger kept, all the feelings of strangeness that he felt the moment he met her were exchanged with a familiar feeling of coming home.

It was the same feeling that he had after he spent months traveling to finally come home again. And he knew that he needed to think and weigh things. He still needed to be rational, even though now the emotion was taking care of every ounce of his being, every single one of his actions.

They walked in peacefully across the courtyard. Raven's hands held Damian's arm like a life-saving rock until the moment she stopped walking and her smile grew, taking over her entire face, showing the white pearls of her teeth. Before he could ask what was going on, Dick came running at the door towards them as if something else had happened.

\- “Thank the gods you came! I was about to go look for you two!”

\- “What happened, Grayson? Why do you seem to have seen a ghost?” - Damian said, releasing Raven's arm quickly before Dick noticed.

\- "It's Talia..." - Damian stopped for a second, the line of concern growing on his forehead again.

\- “Your sister is being born, your majesty.” - Raven said smiling. - “Your kingdom will have a new princess.”

Damian looked at Raven, shock on his face. How did she know? How long had she known? Would he have a sister? Before he could ask all the things that were forming in his head, Dick took Raven's arm and pulled her into the palace to help deliver the child. Astonishing Damian in the middle of a courtyard full of flowers.

Dick was right, this was going to be a long night.


End file.
